A Means to an End, Beginning of Another
by The Crimson Ghost
Summary: I might be picking this up again soon, re-editing the old chapters too; still unfinished. Summary: Twenty years is a long time isn't it? Danny hasn't changed, but life goes on without him. Rated for mild cursing, might change in the future.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own any of these characters (up until the introduction of Alex, Harold, Dan, etc). These characters belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon, I just wanted to write a story. Uh so, don't sue me, I'm pretty poor._

**A Means to an End, Beginning of Another**

**Prologue**

It feels like so long since that day... That day he left us, left everything behind. The last day a real hero that decided to risk it all and did. It was a day like any other practically, save for one drastic change; his sister got involved. It was the first time she'd seen him change and though we'd seen it hundreds on thousands of times before, we were still in awe. It would also be the last time we'd see him, that half ghost and one of my best friends in the whole world, my first love. Even remembering it now, it makes me feel a little queasy. In times like these, like all the other times over the years, Tuck and I remember, wishing, wondering,_ 'what if I did something different'. _It almost feels like a pipedream and even felt like our friend, the one whom which we spent practically our whole lives with, was never there to begin with. But that's getting a little ahead of myself, it all began...

* * *

"I'm goin' _ghost_!" he shouted.

Over the months that spanned into a year, it had become pretty much _his_ phrase. Everyone who was in the loop knew what it meant; Daniel Fenton was performing his transformation. The lanky adolescent felt the cold that came with the transformation, his deep sapphire eyes shutting as his molecules began that same old dance. Light began to expand from his abdomen, spanning out into a circular shape around his waist, then split into two, with one traveling upward upon his form and while the other traveled down. The light changed him, making him sort of negative version of himself as if he were caught on film. As the light passed his clothing, it rearranged itself against him, transformed into a black jumpsuit of some sort, with white circular trim around the neck and part of his chest; white gloves appeared upon his hands and covered his forearms; white boots adorning his legs and a white belt flashed into appearance around his waist. His hair bleached out as the light ran its course over his body while his eyes snapped open showing the electric green inside of his irises. Bringing his closed hand into his open one, he slammed his fist into his palm, and grinned confidently.

The scream which echoed inside of the laboratory of one Jack Fenton continued as Danny completed his transformation. The young woman cowered back over the towering ghoul, looking on in horror as it edged closer. The ghoul itself wasn't that terrifying, however what ability it did possess was.

Currently the ghoul occupied the body of one of Danny's less likable associates, one Dash Baxter. Danny, whose legs decided to dissolve into vapor, sped towards the older Fenton sibling and proceeded to tackle the larger Spectre-Dash.

"What's going on here?!" screamed the older individual. She had just seen her younger brother transform into... something and she couldn't figure out what.

"Just another thing," came a rather spry, sarcastic tone from somewhere to Jazz Fenton's left.

Her head craned over to see two of Danny's friends, his best friends actually. The shorter of the two (only SLIGHTLY), folded her arms right over her stomach, looking a little annoyed. "You'd think they'd give him a day off."

Her hand rose up towards her face, brushing away the stray locks of raven black hair from her cheek and lightly tucked it behind her ear. Samantha Manson had seen her share of strange things, ever since Danny had confided in her and Tucker about his little... abilities; it seemed to become routine. She scrunched her nose slightly, making a face as the last of their trio appeared, holding what looked to be a ... thermos.

"No kidding, they've been at it nonstop for days now," voiced the third, looking rather tired.

The third of the trio was like Danny himself, lanky and a little dorky looking. He raised an ebon finger to his forehead and adjusted his cap, seeming as if he was in thought or especially thoughtful, of which one couldn't be certain. It looked pretty stupid in the mind of Sam though, especially with his glasses.

"But I guess you can't blame them, he beats them time and again," he grinned. Tucker Foley placed his hand on top of the lid of the thermos, looked towards the apparent fighter of the group and shouted out, "Danny! Just say when!"

Spectre-Dash didn't seem to be letting up; apparently when he was assimilated he took in Dash's seeming limitless stamina and augmented it. Danny's punches were doing very little in terms of damage; the augmentation through spiritual means was making it tough.

"Get _**out**_ of his body Spectre!" Danny shouted while his head snapped back from the punch that sent him careening backwards and into the wall; effectively creating a Danny sized dent in the metal.

"Halfa, do you really expect me to just _**come out**_ to you? So long as I have this body, your little... toy over there can do nothing to me," the entity hissed, his smile twisting Dash's face like something out of a nightmare.

He growled, the green eyed ghostly avenger pulled himself from the wall and clenched a fist, "If you won't come out, I'll _**make**_ you!"

He leapt forward, his legs dissolved away to vapor, and his speeding form became transparent which signaled the use of his powers. He charged forward and literally smashed right through Dash's body while he grabbed the ghoul around the waist as both came crashing out through the back. The jock hit the floor audibly, groaning in disarray; meanwhile Danny began pummeling the Spectre repeatedly, his fists rapidly struck the ghost's form with authority.

He made a glance back towards his friend, "Get ready Tuck!"

Tucker had begun unscrewing the top from the thermos that rested comfortably in his hands. Sliding from beneath him, the Spectre looked about, dazed and obviously very much disoriented. Danny turned, growling out while Tucker pulled open the lid of the thermos. "Get him Tuck!"

"Already on it!" his brown skinned compatriot shouted.

An alarm seemed to ring in the Spectre's brain as he looked about for a host. The ghoul noticed the still petrified sister, and made a desperate leap for her corporal form.

"_**Shit**_! Tucker, no time!" Without any other thought in mind, Danny shot forward towards his sister, speeding to get in front of her. One last desperate little gamble.

As Jazz screamed as she watched Danny switched from his ghost mode to his human form with the Spectre colliding into him through his back; effectively having shielded her using his own body. Danny's body careened helplessly towards the wall from the spectral collision and crashed into a shelf of beakers then fell to the floor with an audible thud. Glass tubes dropped and fell around his still form, the trio still conscious of all that went on began to rush toward his fallen form. They called his name desperately; alarm and worry etched upon each of their faces. Even Jazz's fear is forgotten, replaced by a worry that knew not any boundaries; she started running towards him with the other two following along closely.

He brought an arm over himself, slowly drawing his hand towards his shoulder as he gripped his arm while the other moved out towards them with his palm facing out. "Stay back!" he ground out through clenched teeth, holding himself a little tighter at his shoulder.

It burned his very soul, he never tried something even close to being anything like this and he could already feel it ebbing away at him; control of his own body slowly slipping through his fingers like grains of sand. He growled and felt his teeth ache from the force he was applying to them; he pushed himself to remain in control, his eyes shifted eerily as he looked to them. Instead of the normally blue eyes they were used to seeing, his irises held a neon green that was electric and almost mystifying; a bit of shock ran through his friends' eyes as well as that of his sister's.

He gathered himself up unsteadily, "I don't have that much time." His voice was shaky though he tried to appear strong for those in attendance.

Spectre had, earlier in the day, possessed several people, and while it wouldn't be serious, he nearly got them killed. Even the large number of ghosts he faced on a nearly daily basis didn't reap this much destruction. This had to stop; even it meant doing this...

"He's still not in control just yet, a little weakened from when I hit him while he was in Dash." Danny's fingers ran up to his forehead, clutching at his skull as if it would help him remain in control. He shivered, feeling that disgusting, negative feeling brewing within him. He gritted his teeth, gnashing harshly before he attempted to take a calming breath.

Concern ran across Sam's face as Tucker, for once in his life, had nothing to say. No quips, no jokes, no stupid puns... nothing. Danny began walking towards the control console for the portal to the Ghost Zone, and had begun to type a few things in.

"...wh... what are you doing?" Jazz had finally asked, finding her voice after watching the incredible display before her.

Danny didn't seem to be paying too much attention; his face became chiseled to his task and seemed to age rapidly before her very eyes.

"I'm sending him to the Ghost Zone." he replied simply, his eyes never deviated from the console before him.

Sam blinked, looking to Tucker who held the same expression, then back at Danny, "What do you mean, '_take him back_'?" She looked at her best friend with scrutiny, before realization dawned upon her.

"No," she said, "_**NO**_!" repeating as if to reinforce her stance on the matter; she brought her foot up and stomped down onto the cold metal floor as if to accentuate her point and drive it home.

His green eyes glanced over a shaking shoulder, his raven dark hair partially hung over his face as he offered her a slightly sad expression in return. Really, he wondered if he could do anything right...

"Sammy, I can't exactly force him out of my body like this. This is the only way to get rid of him, to get rid of all this craziness, I realize..." he sounded so very small that Sam could hardly believe this shell of a person was the same confident young man mere minutes before.

Tucker looked lost and peered between his friends, then turned back to Sam, "What the _**hell**_ is he thinking about doing?"

He didn't seem to understand the depth as Sam did, while she simply replied, "He's going to go. He's going to go into Ghost Zone, and take Spectre with him."

Eyes widened, Tucker turned back to the young man who had been his best friend for as long as he could remember, "Danny, Danny, wait, _**whoa**_ hold your horses. It can't so bad that you have to do something like _**this**_! You have your whole life ahead of you! Man, Danny, we haven't eve-" he began to ramble before being cut off by the sharp look in Danny's eyes. He was losing control.

Gritting his teeth, Danny looked to them, and spoke as seriously as he possibly could muster, "Don't you realize it? If he has full control of my body, he gets _**my**_ powers too. I can't risk you guys getting hurt over trying to find a better answer. Right now, _**this**_ is the only reasonable answer."

Sam's eyes had begun to sting, water threatened to burst over her eyes, "But Danny..."

Jazz jumped into the conversation suddenly and reached out to touch him, "Danny, you haven't even-"

She was cut off quickly as he swatted her hand from him, his eyes narrowed, the green slightly ebbed with red, "Don't _**TOUCH**_ me!"

He closed his eyes tightly, wrested control back, and sighed tiredly. His green eyes opened and softened upon her while he finished the last button presses to the console.

"Jazz, listen... I know we haven't been on the best of terms in the matters of truth and all that... but I want you to understand... _**this**_ is the best for everyone. It's all I can do right now..."

He raised his hand, swinging his fist down on the button for the portal. The extreme force came down on the console as if he had swung a hammer down upon it and effectively smashed it in while a vortex ripped up behind him. Suction begun to pull at them and the vortex beckoned for him to come to it.

He smiled sadly as he waved his two friends over, his black hair hanging over his eyes a bit. He peered past his bangs to them, shaking visibly before their eyes, and at that moment they realized that he seemed so fragile that if you touched him he might have shattered before their very eyes...

"You two, you've been great. The greatest in fact. You've been with me through thick and thin, through all the hard times and good. I'll never forget you guys..."

The young girl, unable to hold herself back any longer, threw her arms around his neck desperately and squeezed tightly. Tears drained down her face as she squeezed and sobbed, unable to believe or fathom that something like this was happening, that he'd be gone from her life forever.

"Danny, _**DANNY!**_ " she croaked, her body beginning to shake uncontrollably against his form, "I... I need to tell you somethin-"

A smile crossed his features as his fingers came over her lips; he lightly caressed her mouth with all the care he could muster, all the feeling he could pull together. He shook his head softly as he shivered against her embrace, oh how he wished he realized so much sooner... "You... don't need to tell me; it'll just be harder on me... just… I know, Sam. I know... in some depth inside of me, I've always known..."

He shut his eyes, pushing back the tears that he knew would come if he let it. His forced cheerful smile caused her tears to come out even stronger, the hot tears burning her face as she practically screamed at him in panic, "Then don't _**GO**_!"

He looked a bit sad as he wiped her eyes with the back of his hand, his hand softly, gently caressing her cheek while he momentarily indulged in the small things he denied himself of for so long. Lovingly, gently, he quietly nudged her back towards Tucker, whose hands descended on her shoulders to keep her steady as well as keep her from doing anything stupid.

"You know…I realized just now, I always wanted to kiss you..." he whispered and shook his head a bit at his rapidly dwindling time limit, "Too late for that now I guess..." He winced, control was getting harder. "Tucker," he strained, his voice becoming serious as his friend had become incredibly attentive. Tucker shifted all his attention to his barely audible friend, "I want you to protect her, for me, for always."

His eyes narrowed upon the boy in front of him while Tucker simply nodded, grinding out between clenched teeth, "You should be the one to do that Danny..."

The sad expression on Danny's face seemed to have him regret saying such a harsh truth but all he could head his best friend reply with was a weak, "Yeah..." Moments passed like eternity and he said nothing else as he gathered his thoughts while he turned to his older sister.

She looked speechless. Her family's ghost hunting equipment, their little portal, their crusade had all been _**true**_?! And her brother, what was he now? Did she even know him as well as she thought? She was practically ignoring him the way their parents ignored them. She mentally kicked herself for not realizing it sooner, not realizing the weird and strange things going on around Danny. For not protecting him.

"Danny..." whispered the older of the Fenton siblings.

He shook his head just slightly, slid his hands into his pockets, and hunched over, trying to appear as his normal self. His glowing green eyes weren't helping the matter at all nor ease the uncertainty from anyone's mind. Including his own.

"Sis, I know I haven't been all that great in recent years, nor have I been any less difficult than mom and dad," he said while he smiled partially, shaking his head from reverie before he continued, "I just want you to know, you have been great and you've been the biggest support in keeping me sane."

She couldn't help but smile at that last bit, though the tears that came out from her eyes betrayed any notion of that. She held out her arms quietly as Danny moved towards her a bit, and gave a final hug.

He winced once more and felt the red on the edges of his eyes, threatening to take over. He pulled himself away quickly and clenched his fist, "Alright guys... I'll be seeing you at some point, so don't think of this as goodbye."

He smiled before taking a deep breath and a couple steps back towards the ghost portal. Making a once over around the lab, looking over his two friends and his sister, he braced himself one last time.

"I'm goin' ghost!" His body lit up one last time as he threw himself backwards towards the portal that seemed to reach for his presence. A scream echoed through the lab as Sam reached out for the boy now leaving her, leaving her life forever. It was surreal, he couldn't be leaving and never coming back... he was a superhero after all, right? He was her best friend... he was her...

Tucker grabbed her hard as she had made a move towards the portal, pulling her back from the scene while she struggled weakly against his hands, "Tucker! _**TUCKER LET ME GO! LET ME GO DAMMIT! WE HAVE TO GO AFTER HIM! PLEASE! **__**TUCKER**__**!**_"

The portal began to close as Tucker turned his head away from both her and the scene, eyeglasses fogged up as her nails dug into his skin while she tried in vain to make it over to him. She watched in horror as he dissolved through the portal, as if he were falling into a pool of water, her eyes burning as the tears refused to stop their assault. As the portal disappeared into absolute nothingness, her struggle weakened from the effort, and her eyes overflowed with tears unrestrained. Tucker continued looking away, his arms bled from the nails that had been so desperately dug into his flesh. A few moments of silence filled the room before the unthinkable realization of reality hit her. Her mouth dropped as her small figure collapsed to the floor on her knees, seconds passed before she found her voice, but when she did, everyone knew he was gone:

"_**DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNY**_!"

* * *

It was really hard the first few months, hell, the few years after that. Everyone felt the hurt of Danny's loss, even Dash who didn't even seem so... energetic afterwards. He didn't even know why. Since that day, ghosts had stopped coming out from that portal. It didn't mean they stopped altogether, but they stopped coming from out of Danny's house. Jazz seemed to be hit just as hard as I was, she seemed in a daze most of the time for those first few painful months. Even his parents seemed to go crazier, if that's possible. Hell, they even went as far as to pretend they didn't even have a son. I guess that was just their way of coping with it. No one had been near Danny's room since the incident except for me and Tucker. We went over every once in a while to clean it up a bit, but eventually we stopped going altogether.

High School came and went, and so did college. We hardly talked about Danny; it was too painful for the both of us. Eventually though, we married each other and came back to this town to raise our beautiful daughter. Tucker has been a computer science geek and eventually majored in electronics. He owns one of our electronics firms and my parents are very happy with the work he does. I'm more of a stay at home mom, but I do artwork for galleries from time to time. Our daughter, Alexandria, originally looked more like her father when she was younger, but with her growing up, she looks more like me, just tanned. We still find it a little amusing. Sometimes, she doesn't even look as if she could be our daughter.

When we moved back, we found out that Jazz had taken up to living in the Fenton home, her parents moved off to Sweden or Norway to acquire more funding for their experiments. Workaholics I tell you. She even had her own little bundle of joy; I think I almost cried when I first saw him. He even looked like a spitting image of him. I guess Jazz's genes took over everything but the boy's eyes, they were a deep brown. She even named him after _him. _Daniel. It was amusing seeing him grow up with Tuck's cousin's son, and our own daughter. It was like a little flashback of us in a more innocent time. Even now I can tell he'll be a lady killer, once all those girls get over themselves and notice him for what he truly is.

Though it's a little early saying, it seems Alex has taken a shine to him. As corny as that sounds... Maybe this time around it'll be a little different. Maybe this time around, things will be normal, for the boy who shares the same name as the boy I fell in love with all those years ago. Sure, I love Tucker, I always will, but there will always be a spot in my heart for Danny Fenton. Our Danny Phantom.

**End Prologue**


	2. Episode 01: Second Chances, part 1

**A Means to an End, Beginning of Another**

**Episode 01:** Second Chances, Part 1

"Dan! Daniel!" called a voice from below, "Daniel Fenton, wake up!"

Morning. Oh god, how he hated mornings. Mornings meant going to school, and that, in all honesty, made him less and less wanting to get out of his warm, comfortable bed. Another shout from his mother roused him from his bed, his arms going slack as he pulled himself from his comfort zone and drew himself in front of the mirror. He was lanky, his tank top hanging unceremoniously over his shoulders, and his boxers hung on his hips threateningly as if to tease any female onlookers.

He looked sleepily into the mirror, tugged one eye down and peered at the image that looked back at him. "God, I need to sleep more..."

He'd been up till three in the morning doing his project which was now safely tucked away in his backpack. He threw an arm up, stretched and yawned, his messy black hair sticking up in places they shouldn't.

"My hair is crap." he said to the image that looked back at him.

Shaking his head a bit to clear the sleep from his brain, he wandered towards the bathroom, about to head into the door when another shout made its way up from below.

"Dan, wake your sister up!" called his father.

Hanging his head at his inability to deny his parents anything, he sighed and trudged slowly towards his sister's room. Pushing the door open, his hand remained on the face of the door while with eyes half open he peered into the room, scanning for his target.

It was quite girly, with pink covering all the walls and stuffed bears scattered in various positions of rest all around. He wrinkled his nose in distaste before making his way over to the bed. He peered at the lump beneath the blanket quizzically, raised his foot and began lightly poking at the lump with the ball of his foot.

"Hey," he voiced in a voice slightly louder than he wanted, "Hey wake up." A little mumbling and stirring occurred beneath the blanket. "Jules, wake up." he said to the mass of person and blanket. Sleepy blue eyes peeked out from beneath the blanket, a small tuft of black hair hanging over adorable eyes that could charm even the coldest of hearts.

"Wha...?" She looked up towards him, noticing the annoyed expression strewn across his features. Sitting up with the blanket over her head and stuffed bear in her arm; rather cutely, the blanket slips from the top of her head, revealing the ten year old's visage.

Reaching a balled hand up to her eye, she rubbed gently, trying to remove the sleep from her eyes, "Morning already...?" she muttered as Dan shook his head.

"I told you, you shouldn't be eating all that junk food before bed." he chided in a surprisingly brotherly fashion.

The younger of the two made a face, "You sound like mom."

He wrinkled his nose in distaste, turned on his heel, and began to march to the bathroom, "_**Someone**_ has to be responsible for you. Might as well be me."

Make no mistake about it, he cared a lot about his little sister, but sometimes she was just a real pest. Locking the door behind him, he began stripping himself of his nightly garments while reaching for the shower knob. He turned it to the on position and let it run for a few moments. The cold water was always, _**always**_, trapped in the pipes; if one was not careful they'd get a rude, six second cold shower that felt like the ice of the Arctic Circle was descending upon them. Feeling comfortable with the warmth from the water after a few moments of waiting, he hopped in, and thus began his daily routine.

* * *

Wandering down the stairs, he yawned a bit; the shower had woke him up significantly however he was still quite tired. It was probably because he wasn't exactly a morning person. Bringing his arm above his head as he entered the kitchen, he popped his back audibly, and smiled brightly. He was clad in a simple set of baggy jeans, two T-shirts with the upper T-shirt showing an Autobot Logo, and a digital watch strapped to his right wrist. The ensemble was rather typical of him.

Sauntering towards the table, he grinned happily, "G'morning mom."

The young woman at the stove turned her head a bit to see her son, returning the smile with one of her own. "Good morning Daniel."

He wrinkled his nose distastefully; his parents had a weird habit of calling him by his full first name most of the time. It was a little irritating to say the least and was quite embarrassing whenever company came. He dropped into his seat automatically as his mother came over with eggs, with a side of a couple strips of bacon, and toast; the usual brain food for a growing boy.

His father sat at the opposite end, reading a newspaper. Andrew Wied Fenton was no slouch; he studied the stock market and pinpointed trends before they even started. It was possibly the main reason why it seemed as if his parents didn't work and why they could live so comfortably was mainly because of him. He was the bread winner. Why he opted to adopt his wife's family name was always a mystery to most people, but he couldn't seem to argue with the orange haired woman anymore than the greatest lawyers could. She always seemed to have an answer for everything.

...that also meant that Dan could never argue with her either. Though they were few and far between, his mother was very doting, protective, and above all, very, **very**, right in everything she told him. It was almost as if she'd gone through the whole damn thing beforehand and picked all the right answers. He couldn't understand it. As he finished his plate, he polished off the milk, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

His mother peered at this critically, wrinkling her nose as the young boy sighed, "I'll use a napkin next time, and I'm going to be late."

She merely nodded, watching after his retreating form. It reminded her so much of _**him**_ she could barely stand it. But he was a large part of her happiness, he was almost the age when Danny disappeared, she thought to herself quietly. Letting out a small sigh, she said to no one in particular, "He's getting to be that age..."

"Hey squirt," he said while he placed his open palm over the top of her head.

The younger Fenton swatted at his hand, squeaking, "Quit it!"

Dan merely grinned, then headed up towards his room to gather his belongings. "Be glad you don't have school for another hour pipsqueak!"

Little Julia Fenton brought her fist up and shook it, shook it hard so that he might feel her displeasure! "I hope you can see this because I'm shaking as hard as I can!" she squeaked out before heading down the stairs, calling to her mother.

He grimaced slightly as he headed into his room. That girl watched _wayyyyy_ too much TV. He picked up his bag, throwing his books and things into it, zipped it up quickly and made a once over of the room while throwing the bag over his shoulder. Normally he'd be a little tidier than this, but he couldn't help it. Last night was a long night and his project took forever to get done.

Rushing down the stairs, he literally bounded over the last four steps and started out the door, "Alright I'm going! See everyone later!" Before any reply could be heard, he was gone.

A little early by his standards, but he wanted to get to Alex's house before the bus got there. It was such a nice day and he felt carefree, now that the project was out of the way, he felt like walking to school today. He was actually very intelligent for his age, but because of his laziness he didn't quite make the grades he should have been. It was said by his mother that in that respect he resembled his uncle more and more. Either way though, he got things done just to get by. Days like this were enjoyable; he couldn't help but feel happy about it.

* * *

Sitting in front of her mirror, she lightly applied a bit of cherry lip gloss, and looked into her reflection. Her tanned skin was rather light, considering her heritage; her eyes were inherited from her mother, though the pigment in her skin made her glad her father was African American. Even if she was mistaken for Peruvian, or Mexican, the bit of tan made her feel exotic. Or more individualistic. She couldn't tell which, but her father said she seemed to have inherited that kind of thinking from her mother. Tucking raven black hair behind her ear, with her soft violet eyes lightly lined with a bit of eye shadow; today would be her first day as a freshman at Casper High School. She brought her hand to her hip, turning a bit in the mirror, and felt a little self conscious.

It wasn't the fact she was trying to look good for anyone. Undeniably she was pretty but not to a point where she immersed herself in her looks. She didn't mind what people thought of her, be it weird, or strange. Some thought she was rather bubbly. It wasn't anything like that; from the simple shorts, with the black tank top with a character of a bunny skull over the front, Alexandria Foley has always been and would always be her own person. It was another thing she got from her mother.

She didn't mind too much of anything, her sarcastic wit got her through most situations unscathed, or at the most, they were sort of were afraid of her. She was a woman activist, or that's what she told herself. She didn't mind meat or the vegetarian stuff her mother ate, though she did find it a little strange that a carnivore like her father would marry a woman who was a complete vegetarian. Not that she had a right to complain, after all, she was proof of their union. They chalked it up to love, which made her scrunch up her face as it was nauseating. Love was such a foreign word to her. More like an imaginary thing or maybe a mental disease.

She brushed her hands down the shorts that lowered halfway down her slender thighs while quietly fixing her slightly shorter than shoulder length hair. She didn't know why she wore it like this, but ever since seeing a few anime series her cousin Harold decided to lend her, she'd been dressing more and more like a few of those girls simply because she thought their outfits were cute. Though some of them made her absolutely sick, she guessed you couldn't please everyone completely.

Her bangs hung freely, framing her face beautifully as she smiled into the mirror with her hair pulled back into a small ponytail. She lightly dipped her fingers into some gel and proceeded to spike her bangs out, grinning into the mirror at the image reflected back at her. It was some days like this where her hair was obedient that she could truly be happy.

A ring of their doorbell shook her out of her thoughts, her body moving swiftly as she swung her hand down to grab her bag and slid it over her back. Grabbing a few of her books and bringing them to her chest, she ran down the stairs, she cried out, "I'll get it!"

Too late, her father was already at the door, talking with Dan. "It's fine honey, I got it."

Her mother was nowhere in sight, again. Probably off doing some sort of art piece or something or other. Dan waved from the doorway, grinning like mad, "Ready for your first day?"

She wrinkled her nose a bit, looking the least bit amused, and feigned looking indignant "Not in the least." Despite going to school, she was pretty happy he had come to pick her up. Her father merely smiled at the exchange.

It was a bit weird how well her parents got along with Dan, ever since she could remember they talked to him a lot. An excessive lot and as the years went by, they talked to him more and more like he was their oldest friend. She had such a bizarre family. She shook her head, waved a little towards her father, "Later dad." Really... she wasn't looking forward to this first day after a month long vacation.

Smiling, Tucker Foley waved towards his daughter. "Have a pleasant day. Goodbye Danny."

Waving a bit behind him he replied, "Later Tuck," and began walking side by side with Alex, his hands tucked comfortably beneath the straps of his backpack.

When they had gotten far enough away, Alex made a side glance towards him, "Aren't you a little creeped out by my parents? I mean you're on a first name basis with them all the time."

Looking thoughtful, the dark haired boy looked up to the sky, "I never really thought of it. Seems a little natural to me, they're really friendly."

He and Alex had been friends for as long as they could remember and they had been going to school together for years. Well, save for this one, she and her parents were off on a month long vacation, the same month that the school started and she was a little behind.

Only a little. Apparently her parents' combined usage of the left and right hemispheres of the brain drained into young Alex and pretty much made her a genius level scholar and artist on all levels. She'd finished all the work Dan had given her over her vacation and was ready to turn it in. Turns out, thankfully, they had all the same classes together. It worked out well for her and she didn't fall behind the month she was gone. They talked to each other everyday by phone, so much so it was routine. They'd speak about their days and things, and just ramble on about their parents. They were pretty close, though they got teased all throughout Elementary and Junior high about it. By the time graduation for Junior high came around they didn't even seem phased by the notion. They were friends, the best of friends and friends like that were one in a million.

"Hey!" came a shout from behind them.

Alex crossed her eyes, holding her books to her chest a little tighter. Dan turned, his head tipping back a bit as he craned it over, "Yo, Harold."

The slightly taller African American boy jogged up behind them, then moved to the other side of the two, grinning, "G'mornin' Cuz."

The way he had said it had made Alex grind her teeth a bit. "Good morning Harold." she replied with some annoyance in her voice.

Harold was a little bit of a trend whore, he seemed to wear the most expensive clothing just to fit in. He was practically the absolute opposite of Alex socially, but was still considered an outsider to most of the groups at school. At least his clothes didn't get him beat up as much, Dan's mind had prodded. Today he wore a set of green pumas, a matching set of green track pants and jacket on his shoulders. Beneath the jacket was a simple white tank top, and his tilted sideways green baseball cap with the Puma logo over the front seemed to complete the look.

Dan was never one for fashion, but Harold was just extreme. Dan enjoyed wearing what he wanted so long as it was comfortable and despite the whole look Harold projected, it looked pretty comfy he admitted.

Alex merely rolled her eyes as if catching Dan's thought, "Don't encourage him." she said simply.

Dan had known Harold a little longer than Alex and was inseparable from him in terms of friendship. When Alex joined their group, the trio never seemed to be able to part, and thus, the three continued their elementary school days up to this point as such. They were outcasts and as long as they had each other, they were invincible.

"Hey, Fen_**dumb**_!"

Stopping in his tracks, Dan hung his head, gathered up the necessary nerve before turning, flashing a large smile, "Hey Flash how's it going?"

Flash Baxter, the bane of his existence. He didn't know _**what **_in the world he had done to deserve the sort of treatment implemented upon him by this individual since the beginning of his junior high year, but the abuse was steadily growing with Dan's affection towards his sister. Flash was much taller, blond hair, blue eyes; he was practically the all American guy. He wore the school's leather jacket, and some form fitting jeans, his gaze currently turned downward towards Dan. He brought a hand up and pushed a finger into his chest, his muscular physique putting a little bit of pressure behind the finger.

"If I hear that you're eyeballing my sister again Fenton, I'mma personally pound you into kibble."

Eyes not seeming the least bit amused, Dan hung his head, waving a hand. "Alright alright."

"Flash stop picking on him!" came a voice which sounded more like a melody to Dan's ears.

Flash turned, frowning as Dan picked his head up like a groundhog looking for its shadow; Alex could only roll her eyes as Harold shared Dan's gaze. Standing before them was a petite young woman, a little more tan than Flash, her body seeming to look as if she was poured into the outfit she wore. The mini skirt and tight shirt she wore seemed to accent all the curves of her body like some sort of chiseled goddess, her hair pushed back neatly with a few hair pins as her bangs slid by her full lips which were dabbled with lipstick. Her physique looked as if she kept in shape regularly, her midriff shown slightly. Her soft green eyes fell upon Dan briefly before turning to Flash.

"Flash, Dad has told you a million and a half times; do not to pick on the Fenton kid."

Dan winced; she didn't even know his first name...

Folding his arms over his chest, Flash looked down upon his sister, "...alright fine. But if I see him even glance in your direction, he's going to get a pounding."

She frowned slightly, "Flash..." Making another face, she shrugged a little, beginning to head towards the school.

Flash began to follow, turning to look at him and leaned in close, hissing between his teeth, "I expect you to be at your locker in two minutes. Got it?"

Dan only waved with eyes half opened and empty of amusement, "Right, might as well not stop the inevitable."

With that, Flash wandered behind his sister, leaving the trio slightly awestruck.

Alex frowned, peering over her friend, "Why do you let him treat you like that?"

Sliding his hands into his pockets now, he begun walking with the other two in tow, "Might as well let it go. It's nothing to get angry about. The universe works so that everyone gets what they deserve. ...I heard it in a movie once." said the current target of Flash's tortures.

Harold grinned, "Leave it to movies to solve all your problems."

Alex cut in immediately, "It didn't solve anything!"

Harold's smiles grew a little wider, "Exactly."

Growling, she threw her arms up into the air, screaming a bit before moving up her pace up to walk beside Dan, who continued to trudge along.

_Today, is going to be a bad day_, thought Dan dryly.

* * *

"Is he gone?" she asked quietly, her voice almost coming out as a squeak as she came out of her studio. Standing near the doorway, a full figured woman wearing a smoke dabbled in paint splatters, leaned into the doorway and folded her arms over her stomach. A habit her daughter probably caught from her, her mind added. Her black hair was clipped short, spiky somewhat which seemed to make her look pretty cute and much younger than her actual age. Her slender arms folded a little more, almost as if she were hugging herself, her form fitting jeans hugged onto her hips and the stained T-shirt she wore hung loosely on her figure.

Tucker glanced over in the direction of his wife, smiling wistfully, "Yes he is. He's ending up more and more like _him_ every day y'know. It's hard to look at him sometimes, but when we talk, it's. ...it's almost like old times, y'know?"

Samantha Foley sighed at her husband's ramblings and knowing her thoughts were just as similar; bringing her hand from her elbow up to her temples, she rubbed her forehead gingerly and let out another sigh. "It's hard looking at him, period. He's looking exactly like Danny did at that age."

Tucker laughed softly, leaning against the door a bit as he looked towards her, "No kidding. I wonder what Danny would say if he were still around...?" The question seemed to hang in the air, almost as if there had been a bomb dropped.

Samantha smiled thoughtfully before she spoke, "He'd probably say '_was I that naive when I was that age?_' or something about his voice being so pitched."

Tucker smiled as he moved from the door, and headed towards his wife, reaching out for her with a sense of reverie in his eyes. "It's been a long time hasn't it? ...since we last talked about Danny."

Sighing as his arms fell around her comfortably she nodded quietly, resting her head lightly against his chest, and quietly stared at his buttoned up dress shirt, "It has. I still love you and all Tuck, you know that... but..."

He smiled and nodded in understanding, "But there's that little spot in your heart for him. I know, I understand... it's the same with me too Sam... I miss him too..." He lightly squeezed her, her body relaxing slightly in his embrace and going slack.

Closing her eyes, she rested silently against him, offering a quiet and contented sigh. "Twenty years..." she whispered, the words seeming to linger in the air longer than they should have.

Tucker merely nodded silently, "Maybe it's time we paid a visit to his 'grave'?"

Nodding quietly in agreement, she smiled up at Tucker, lightly placing a kiss along his mouth. "I couldn't ask for a better friend or husband..." she murmured.

Tucker merely laughed with a single eye shutting as he peered at her with the other, "I can think of someone better. But only slightly."

She smiled gently into his eyes, both seeming to come to a small understanding as she replied, "I can too... strangely enough..." Both nod at the mutual agreement of their own cruel joke as Tucker headed towards the phone to call Jasmine Fenton.

* * *

Two hours. He'd been stuck in that locker for two hours now. Thankfully he handed Alex his project before he got stuck in there. He leaned his head quietly against the metal door of the locker, sighing lightly to himself. This had been going on since junior high and continued on into the beginning of what would be referred to as the 'golden years' of his life or so they said. It didn't seem so golden to him at the moment by being stuck in a locker. Where was the silver lining in any of this?

Rapping on the door of his locker with his forehead, he groaned, "Anybody? Heeeeeelp?"

He could see the headlines now, 'Boy Dead, Shoved in Locker. See Obituaries'.

"That'd be such an embarrassing epitaph." he muttered to himself, lightly bumping his forehead against the locker door. He'd been bellyaching for someone to let him out for a while now; no one seemed to come to his rescue each and every time he got thrown in the locker. At least not till near fourth period. He wondered if liking Gwen Baxter was really, _**really**_ worth the trouble.

He quietly thought over those beautiful eyes, those full lips, and the way she threw her hair back lightly with a flick of her wrist, his heart skipping a couple of beats in the process. Yeah, she was worth it. He lightly began banging his forehead on the locker's cool metal surface once more; it was something he developed every time he got stuck in this situation since the first time it happened. It was a strange habit, but it kept him sane in the long run. At least, he hoped so. Maybe permanent brain damage wasn't so bad?

"Heeeellllpp..." he groaned once more, before finding himself lurched forward, the metal door swinging back from his weight and a comfortable pair of familiar arms encircled around him. He blinked slowly as he shifted his weight backwards, pulling himself away quickly and staring into two very surprised, yet familiar violet eyes.

"Doesn't anyone let you out sooner than this?" she asked while her face was flushed with a tinge of red along her cheeks; he couldn't tell whether it was out of embarrassment or surprise, so he decided to go with the former rather than the latter to be optimistic. He, on the other hand, wasn't too flustered; after all, they had hugged before right? Best friends do that.

"Yeah actually. Well, most of the time. Today's just, uh, a bad day since Flash told the hallway if anyone let me out they'd suffer the same fate or something like that. Probably not in as many large words." he flashed her a small, cynical smile, one she returned before smoothing out her clothes.

"Thankfully I remembered your combination for you," she said with a gentle smile.

He nodded a bit, looking into his empty locker. He decided to keep as many things out of there as possible; after all, he was shoved into the locker one or twice daily so might as well leave stuff out the stuff that might give you a cramp. Or something.

"Yeah, Harold usually lets me out but I can't always count on him to do so." He threw an arm above his head and stretched with his back popping, "Thanks again, I might've had to wait another hour for Harold, he usually doesn't come by this way till around fourth period."

She nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips full lips.

"C'mon," she said as she began walking away, "we're going to miss our third class at this rate."

He nodded, adjusting his backpack on his shoulders and shutting his locker behind him. Moving quickly to keep pace with her, he slid his thumbs beneath his shoulder straps, and sighed slightly. A few moments of silence came between them before Alex made a side glance towards him, "What do you see in her anyway?"

He blinked, a little off guard at her abrupt question and that she came relatively close to where his thoughts were earlier, but simply replied, "She's beautiful."

The answer didn't seem to satisfy her as she wrinkled her nose with some disdain, "Is that all?" she ventured.

Dan rubbed his nose with the back of his hand, his eyes half closing in an annoyed expression, "At the moment; I haven't had a chance to get to know her without Flash throwing me in a locker for even glancing in her direction."

Alex winced slightly at the bit of venom dripping off his words. She guessed Dan was tired of getting stuffed in a locker, hell she probably would have too if it had been going on for this long; practically three years by her count. Surprising the boy didn't go insane already.

For the most part Dan was a mellow sort of person; he disliked the whole thing about conflict and took just about everything in stride as far back as Alex could remember. He was kind, strong of heart, pretty athletic (though it was only to get through P.E. with as minimal work as possible, but still...), and an all around nice guy. People like Flash seemed to take advantage of that and bullied Dan on a daily basis; because of this, he was labeled as a nerd or dork or whatever and was an outcast along with her and Harold. Well, not Harold so much, he mainly got by because of his clothes she surmised and people just stayed away from her. She made another glance over to him; she let out a small sigh while reaching her hand out and lightly pushed some of his untamed hair from his eyes, her fingers slightly tangled in his messy hair.

He wrinkled his nose, watching her fingers work at his hair a bit before settling the whole thing settled back into place, "It's a mess, I know."

She laughed lightly as they reached the door, merely replying, "I know, but it was a lot worse since apparently you've been beating your head against that locker door for a while." He blinked a bit, seeming mystified before she added in, "There's a large dent in your locker and your forehead's a little red." she pointed towards his forehead as he sighed, bringing his hands up to his hair and attempted to tug it down over his forehead.

"This day's just getting worse," he muttered to himself in disgust.

She shrugged lightly, before moving behind him, "Enough moping. Get into class, we're going to be counted as absent if we don't hurry." with that, she nudged him in through the door, following quickly behind.

* * *

Opening the door Jazz smiled at the couple now standing at the porch. Tucker leaned forward to peer inside and snickered, "Still looks the same."

Jazz, smiling quietly nodded as she ushered the two of them into her home.

"How's Drew?" asked the former Goth girl turned artist.

Jazz tipped her head slightly from left to right, laughing lightly to herself mostly, "He's ... wrong as usual about family stuff, but he's dead accurate on the stock market." Sam nodded with a bit of a knowing look, Tucker seemed to wrinkle his face in a bit of feigned indignity, but he knew it was all in good fun.

"Danny's grown up quite a bit, even if we do see him practically every day," he said, adjusting his glasses which made him seem slightly more mature. As he grew older he opted for smaller glasses, something more sophisticated, which seemed to work much better for him. Sam nodded a bit, folding her arms over her stomach habitually, her bangs lightly drawing over her violet eyes. It still hurt her quite a bit to look at how much he looked like _**their**_ Danny.

Jazz, noticed this merely patted the younger woman's shoulder softly before smiling, "Alex seems to be quite taken with him."

It was true, Sam realized, though the two people in question probably didn't realize any of it. _Ahhh, the ignorance of youth_, she thought wryly, her cynical nature showing through in her thoughts. They had dressed up a bit, more of casual clothing but in black, Jazz seemed to be following the trend. This sort of gathering was special to all of them; they treated it with the utmost respect. Every now and again they would visit his 'grave', the old laboratory barely being touched after that horrible incident.

Maybe it was the fact that they could have done it another way that made it so hurtful, but as Danny said at the time; _this was the only way he knew how to deal with it with what time they did have_. The trio began conversing about things like work and their children, before finally arriving at the door to the laboratory. It had been cordoned off with caution tape that hadn't been removed in years. A legacy of Danny's parents, they all thought. Removing the tape, Jazz opened the door quietly, bits of dust flaking downward from the top of the door causing her to cough.

Flipping on the light switch, the light begun to pour into the dark room, and illuminated it. White seemed to overtake the entire room before their eyes adjusted to the unexpected brightness. The scene that spread out before them was like a fixed setting in time from the worse horror movie of their lives. Broken beakers, test tubes, even the dents in the walls from that battle were still there, mockingly reminding them of their failure to save their friend.

Tucker, wandered in slowly with a wistful, pained smile as he headed towards the middle of the room. With Sam and Jazz in tow, the three headed towards th familiar object that had been caked over with dust. Tucker reached down, plucking the device up in his hand, and cradled it with his palm. He'd grown so much since then but the thermos still felt the same since that time, still had that weight of responsibility.

Brushing it off lightly, he smiled, almost whispering as he spoke, "We had a lot of good times didn't we?"

Sam peered over the thermos, her eyes shutting as she sarcastically quipped, "Yeah, the best years of our lives."

Though, she did have to admit that that thing, this place, held a lot of memories for all of them, good and bad. The lab was always a bit fascinating, but the company there was a lot better. The memory of their little trip into the Ghost Zone made her crack a small smile. Inside of the cobweb infested, dusty place of the laboratory, was the memory, or at least, the feeling that this was their secret headquarters. A secret place for the three would be ghost catchers, with one of their ranks, a ghostly superhero. She laughed quietly at the thought, the bitter smile on her face remaining as she looked over the Danny sized dent in the wall, lightly running her fingertips over it.

Jazz, noticed the look in her eyes and couldn't blame her. She really did care about that stupid brother of hers, and although she knew how much she cared for Tucker, it still didn't make the loss of Danny any easier on her. On anyone. Jazz turned her eyes down towards the countertop, lightly drawing her fingertips over the surface. She was right a lot of the time, but how she couldn't see the strange things happening around Danny was beyond her. It wasn't until he transformed in front of her did everything fall into place. The failing grades, the late nights out, hell, his friends' bumbling excuses for him; it all fit now and she sometimes wished she had seen it sooner, so she could have stopped that terrible day from happening.

The console was still broken she noted, looking over the fist mark Danny had made in pushing it. He was probably a lot smarter than what she gave him credit for; after all her parents hadn't been able to fix what was wrong, like Danny had taken some essential component that made it work and took it with him into that Ghost Zone. She wasn't sure what it was, but it might have been Danny himself that made it work, she surmised. All three seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, a sigh lingering into the air every now and again. They remembered him, quietly saying their little prayers, hoping it would reach him.

A crackle at the console caught their attention, the electricity that had been disconnected for years beginning to sizzle. The laboratory doors shut, a huge metal door sliding down in front of the exit with a loud clang and all three turned in unison to see. Red lights descended from the ceiling, green light begun to gather in the center of the long dead Ghost Portal.

A computerized voice echoed through the lab, '_**WARNING, WARNING! SUPERNATURAL OCCURANCE REALIZING**_'

Apparently the doors were a failsafe in case the portal was to be opened from the other side. The green light began to expand until a small boom echoed through the laboratory, the familiar green field pulling a bit from suction. On the other side of the portal, screams could be heard, sinister laughter as well. Sam and Jazz made their way to Tucker, who held their only means of defense really, the Fenton Thermos. Unconsciously and automatically, with practiced ease Tucker found himself unscrewing the lid from the thermos, staring at the green portal which seemed to be eyeballing him back.

From the portal, a speeding form was launched out, sailing by over their heads, and was sent crashing into the wall behind them.

Tucker swiveled his head back, eyes wide as Sam shared a similar expression, familiarity crossing their features with both shouting in unison, "**SKULKER**?!"

The large ghost appeared dazed, shaking his head as he pounded his fist into the wall looking to steady himself. He looked to the trio and growled out, "You three, _**GET OUT OF HERE**_."

Blinking a bit, the three begun backing away from the center of the room, Skulker swung his hand out as it transformed into what looked to be a blaster weapon. He leveled it towards the portal, a sinister laugh coming out from beyond the green portal. Slowly stepping out, the figure of a boy moved from the green hole in the dimensional space, his fist glowing with red ectoplasm. He opened and closed his hand as Skulker began to fire at the boy.

The boy raised his hand, dissolving the blasts with a simple wave of his hand as Skulker shouted at him, "Phantom, get control of the body already!"

The boy growled as the opposing hand glowered in emerald and he begun holding himself, his eyes burning out the red within them and shifting to a familiar and pained electric green.

"I'm _**trying**_ alright?!" the familiar voice bellowed sounding annoyed with the order they both knew he'd take anyway.

Sam slowly gathered her wits about her, staring at the boy and finding her breath caught in her throat. He hadn't changed, not at all... Tucker grabbed onto her wrist, tugging her back a bit as they both stared at the unbelievable.

"D...Danny...?" she ventured quietly while the green eyed boy snapped his head around to see her.

"Sam?" he blinked in confusion.

Skulker growled, beginning to open fire upon Danny, "You _**IDIOTS**_!"

The green burned out of his eyes as a blue light launched from the body, and fired out in a random direction.

Grinning, the red eyed phantom boy brought his arms up above his head. "Finally..." he hissed, the voice wasn't his and though as much as it seemed like him, it wasn't _him_. He brought his hands together, red light beginning to funnel into his fingertips and constructed a sphere. He hurdled the sphere towards Skulker, whom leapt aside while the three humans had begun moving back.

"Spectre...?" asked Sam questioningly, almost too scared to hear an answer. The being inside their once friend smiled, a twisted Cheshire like grin that didn't belong on that young face of the one they called their friend.

"It's been a long, _**long**_ time hasn't it?" he said with a tone of whimsy.

The sphere impacted against the wall, sending debris forward as Skulker growled, "He has the body now!"

Bringing his arm up, 'Danny' flexed his arm, his snow white hair hanging over irises of the most dreadful crimson imaginable. "Finally... after all this time of being stuck in the Ghost Zone with that Do-Gooding Halfa, I now have this body. It belongs to me now."

Sam edged back into the arms of Tucker, who merely stared at what was once their friend. Hot jealousy flashed in the eyes of the once hero of the trio as he begun towards the couple, eyes wisped with vapor.

"Seems some of Phantom's emotions have rubbed up on me..." a sinister grin drew across his face, the white hair hanging over his eyes. His hand crackled with the scarlet energy, his teeth grinding as he stalked towards them.

Skulker, having picked himself up from the floor, rushed over in front of the two, and growled, "Get out of here _**NOW**_!"

With that, his hands transformed into a pair of cannons, beginning to let loose a hail of ectoplasmic energy from the barrels at his wrists. Jazz, finding herself, grabbed the couple and began hauling them to a safer distance. Numb and shocked, Sam stayed in Tucker's grasp; her eyes wide as saucers and completely shell shocked. What had just happened, she didn't know. All she knew was that some ghost was in Danny's body, and Danny was no where to be found. 'Danny' reached out, grabbing the cannon and crushed it between his fingers easily, the grin still spread across his face.

"Spectre!" sounded the taller man as the shorter of the two beings brought his hand out to Skulker's chest.

"You and Phantom are no match for me now that I have the body. Your little gamble failed." He discharged a round of concentrated ectoplasmic energy, sending the bounty hunter known as Skulker backwards towards the wall. Charging forward after him, he swung his arms back and begun shooting after him, and his shooting forward immediately to pummel the larger ghost on the way to the wall. When they collided with the wall, the punches continued to impact against him, 'Danny's' fists digging into the ghostly flesh again and again.

Looking upon his prey briefly, Spectre pulled himself from the body, leaving him in the wall. Stalking towards the trio, his hands began glowing with the gathering of spiritual energies. "You two betrayed me..." he said with a voice that sounded like Danny's, and yet not. It echoed in the lab while he narrowed his eyes dangerously upon them. His white hair wavered over his eyes as Tucker moved in front of the two females, opening the thermos and aimed it at what assumed the form of his best friend.

Nothing happened, no light, no energy; it only let out a small spark of malfunction probably from its lack of use as the ghoul of their former friend stalked closer. Sam opened her mouth; her jaw slacked as tears had filled her eyes with terror running throughout her body. She shook visibly as this twisted version of her best friend was making his way to them, to kill them. Tucker stared as well, dropping the Fenton Thermos and Jazz watched helplessly once more.

_A cruel fate_, she thought, _a crueler fate worse than death... _

Spectral energies gathered as he brought his hands in front of him, grinning madly. "I'll make you pay..." he uttered, before Sam's eyes shut tightly.

Her voice found once more, she screamed in terror, her voice filling the laboratory, and caused it to reverberate with her voice, "_**DANNYYYYYYY**_!"

A blast of green energy lashed out from their left a few moments later, effectively sending Spectre into the wall with an amazing amount of force. The Danny sized crater in the metal wall seemed to keep him pinned for a few moments while he slowly pulled himself out.

Growling, he looked for Skulker, finding him gone. "Skulker..." he ground out through gritted teeth, the red in his irises glowing brighter as he clenched his fist, fury beginning to consume him.

"No." a familiar voice echoed as footsteps came towards them. In a dark part of the lab near the door, the footfalls became louder. The three turned their attention towards the origin of the footfalls, each staring in disbelief. Luminescent blue eyes shining in the darkness as the raven haired mirror image came into view, sporting the Autobot logo upon his shirt while he held Skulker upright with his arm around his neck. Black hair hanging over his eyes as he clenched his fist, Jazz stared at the young boy she had raised herself.

"D...Daniel?"

The boy's fist seemed to glow with green light, the doppelganger begun to grin, "So, it seems you have a body now as well."

Setting Skulker down by the trio, they watched as he offered them a small, familiar, reassuring smile. "Take care of him okay?" Nodding dumbly, Sam and Tucker pulled the apparition to them, before Danny glanced over his shoulder, peering at his twin.

"Nothing to say Halfa?" scoffed the doppelganger.

He growled lowly towards his opposition. Dan brought his hand out and snapped his fingers downward, a voice from the past echoing forward into the present, using a phrase that hadn't be uttered in a couple of decades. "I'm goin' _ghost_!"

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Episode 02: Second Chances, part 2

**A Means to an End, Beginning of Another**

**Episode 02:** Second Chances, Part 2

"I'm home!" he called as he pushed through the door, taking his key with him as he entered his home. _Practically empty_, his brain supplied with some melancholy when no one answered in return; till he looked down near the door, and found two more pairs of shoes.

Alex peeked over his shoulder a bit, eyes half closing, "My parents." she recognized her mother's converse and her father's loafers; they were pretty easy to spot.

Wrinkling his nose, Dan brushed himself off a bit before moving away from Alex as they entered his house with Harold following after the two. Closing the door behind them, he locked the bolts and headed towards the kitchen.

"Probably doing parent stuff," Dan mused, opening the door to the 'fridge, peering inside, and spying the contents. Alex, who already knew her way around the house, wandered over to the cabinets to find food as Harold headed off to the bathroom. Apparently lunch wasn't agreeing with him.

Finding a large carton of Goldfish crackers, Alex reached up and plucked them from the shelf, a glance thrown in her direction by Dan, whom merely wrinkled his nose, "Not in the mood for that stuff," he said.

Looking towards him as the box fell into her hands quietly, she smiled, sticking out her tongue at him. "Then you don't need to eat it," she sang. Shrugging lightly, Dan grabbed himself some lunchmeat and a few cans of soda, setting the sodas on the table while he went back to his quest for bread.

Alex opened the carton and begun eating a few of the small, fish shaped crackers, watching Dan's movements as they awaited her cousin. She could hear the toilet flush as he made his way back into the kitchen, letting out a relieved sigh in the process.

"That tuna casserole wasn't going down right..."

Momentarily peeking over his shoulder, Dan replied, "Then you shoulda stuck with the meatloaf."

It wasn't _**that**_ bad in comparison to some of the other lunches he had. He remembered the macaroni and cheese incident, and shuddered internally. It wouldn't have been so bad if it didn't weaken his immune system to have him catch the flu that following day.

Harold reached into the goldfish box, grabbing a few of the tiny crackers and begun eating them one by one. "So I heard Alex let you out today."

Nodding a bit as he found the bread, Dan untied the knot in the bag while taking a couple of slices out and spreading them in front of him. "Yeah, thankfully Flash doesn't do anything to girls."

He had a sickening thought of Alex getting shoved into a locker; the very thought didn't sit well with him, after all he didn't want anything bad happening to her.

Her voice cut through his thoughts as she sounded rueful, "If he did, I'd expect he wouldn't be reproducing his spawn anytime in this lifetime."

Dan winced, it felt like a kick in the junk, and he wasn't even the intended target. Apparently Harold felt the same as he replied, "That's pretty harsh."

Violet eyes turning to him, the tanned young woman's face remained neutral, her cynicism poking through, "So's throwing anyone into a locker." She set the box of goldfish up and folded her arms over her stomach, a habit she got from her mother.

Dan waved a hand, his back still turned to them as he made his sandwich, "Hey no fighting here, I don't want my mother coming down like the wrath of God."

Both his compatriots winced. Jasmine Fenton was no one to mess with; she ran her household like a tight ship. When she was angry, she was full blown furious, her always right answers scaring many into being her obedient servants. Take Dan's dad for instance, they never fought.

_Probably got all that out in college while they were dating_, Alex thought bemused at the thought of Mrs. Fenton arguing tooth and nail with her husband.

Harold finished his handful of the crackers, and begun to search the fridge as well. "Got anything meaty? I'm hungry for some actual food."

Harold, like his uncle and possibly their whole family line, were carnivores, which slightly disturbed Dan and Alex; Dan for wondering how any one person much less a whole family could eat nothing but meat and Alex for simply being related to him. When the boy had a burger, it mostly consisted of two meat patties in the middle, and two chicken patties for buns. At their local burger place called the Burger Stop, they even named the dish after Harold. Harold was quite proud of his accomplishment, even his uncle was a little proud. He'd never done it in his time.

"Uh yeah," begun Dan who was used to his friend's habits as he picked up his sandwich and motioned towards the top shelf. His sandwich seemed to have a healthy helping of lunchmeat and lettuce, while he quietly took a seat at the table behind Alex. "We have quite a bit of left over steak if you want near the top. I'm thinking my mother was thinking of either you or Alex's dad when she was cooking."

Dan's mother cooked quite a bit from time to time, mostly when Alex's father came over or when Harold was coming around. Weekdays she kept quite a store of meat handy, as Harold came to his house quite often. Alex leaned back a bit, taking a deep breath and lightly popped a few of the goldfish crackers into her mouth; she felt quite comfortable relaxing in the seat. "Man, been only gone a month and already I'm getting those looks."

She'd gotten them all through her school life. Those looks that told her she was strange, an outsider, unaccepted. They had spread quite a few rumors about her in only a few short hours, saying some people from the previous school had caught her smoking. Or that she the daughter of a crime cartel. Or the one that said that she was from the poor side of town and had killed her family. She crossed her eyes, sighing; all those could be farther from the truth.

She glanced to her shoulder when she felt Dan's hand lightly against her skin his palm gently patting against her, "Hey don't worry about it. We'll get through it."

He smiled this reassuring smile that made her feel at ease. She wasn't sure how he did it but it always seemed to work.

Harold's voice jumped in while warming the cutlets of steak, "Yeah, who knows, this year might be different from all the other ones and we might actually be accepted." He sounded hopeful and sarcastic at the same time.

All three paused briefly, before replying in unison, "Nah."

Laughter soon filled the room as the three friends went about eating.

Blinking, Dan noticed something a bit out of the ordinary when the house shook very slightly. It had been for the most part unnoticeable and could probably be overlooked if not for Harold turning his head to look around.

"Earthquake?"

Alex, noticed as well and blinked, looking around. "Maybe a mild tremor?" she ventured.

He'd never heard of getting an earthquake here of all places. "I think it came from the lab," said the resident of the house.

A blue light began shining from the floor, immediately shooting up in a rapidly ascending speed and clocked Dan right between the eyes in the face. Apparently the force from impact sent him up into the air and flipped. He landed on his back in the middle of the kitchen, slowly sliding across the linoleum floor to the opposite end of the kitchen.

"Dan!" they shouted in unison.

Both his compatriots stopped what they were doing, Harold flipping the gas off from the stove as Alex knelt down beside Dan and cradled his head in her arms. She checked for signs, something, anything that could be the cause of his mysterious fall with Harold frantically looking around for whatever object hit him.

"Did you see what that weird light was?" he asked, the question pointed to her.

Shaking her head slowly, she blinked, "I didn't even hear of anything coming loose to hit him."

Harold made a motion with his finger, pointing down at the tile, "Some light just flashed from the floor and hit him." He had seen, or thought he had seen what went on. It was still a mystery to him and now, he wasn't sure if Dan didn't just jump out of his seat and hit his head.

"Any bumps?" he asked as she ran her fingers carefully through Dan's hair, checking his head for lumps.

Worry was etched on her face when she discovered none, her eyes half closing while she inspected him tenderly. "Dan? Daniel, wake up." she uttered quietly, lightly poking at his boyish face. The poking seemed to do the trick as a groan escaped his lips, and the breath she didn't know she was holding escaped.

"Dan, Dan! Man you scared us both half to death!" said the carnivore, his voice seeming to carry more meaning than he thought.

"Death?" Dan bolted up straight while his eyes snapped opening immediately. Instead of the normally brown irises everyone was used to seeing, a deep, soulful blue projected out, his hair trailed over his eyes a bit as he looked about frantically. "Crap," he growled then turned onto his knee, "I'm in the kitchen!"

Confused, Alex and Harold exchanged glances between each other, before seeing Dan sprint off full speed towards the stairway that led to the basement.

"Dan?" Harold called after him as Alex made a motion.

Gathering herself up from the floor, she called for her cousin, "C'mon he's acting incredibly weird."

They both bolted after him, watching his retreating form gathering momentum as he pulled away from them easily. As they finally reached the door and caught up with him, Dan threw the door open and noticed a large metal plate in front of him. Growling, he brought his fist back, cocking it into position, and let loose a wild punch upon it. He dented the metal deeply with his fist, much to Alex and Harold's surprise.

"Dan...?" she ventured as she watched him curse then leaned his ear against the door.

Faintly he could hear the sounds of battle, his blue eyes narrowing as he tried very hard to listen. "Skulker isn't doing too good..." he muttered to himself, straining harder as he listened in.

Alex glanced over to Harold, who merely shrugged in reply. "He's your best friend." he said to her as she scowled slightly.

"He's your best friend too, stupid!"

They were about to argue again but before it even started; two blue eyes turned to them in annoyance, and narrowed briefly. "I'm trying to listen here?"

The amount of anger and urgency in his voice shut the two up as Alex leaned in towards Harold with realization and whispered, "Hey... did you notice?"

Harold blinked, his voice becoming low, "Notice what?" It was obvious even to him that he wasn't the most observant person in the world.

"His eyes... they're blue..." she whispered.

Harold blinked. She was right, instead of the normal brown he saw every day, his eyes were now this sort of luminescent azure, both of which were currently narrowed and glaring at the metal door. It was then that they heard it, it wasn't as faint but it seemed to echo in the ventilation, a voice only her mother could have as she heard her scream at the top of her lungs. "_**DANNYYYYYYY**_!" she cried, the voice echoing into the hallway around them.

"Sam!" Dan's eyes widened as desperation set in. His body seemed to go into a transparent version of himself, much to the surprise of his friends while his hand started glowing in an eerie green light. He ran _**through**_ the metal plate, leaving his two friends bewildered. Dumbfounded, Alex's worried eyes showed a touch of fear as her best friend ran right through the metal door, calling for her mother with an air of familiarity that wasn't there before. Harold shared a similar expression, before looking at the console next to the door.

"C'mon," he said, getting his wits about him, "We'll worry later; we have to get this door open. Something is definitely up."

Nodding numbly, she began helping Harold with his infiltration of the facility.

* * *

"I'm goin' _ghost_!"

The words seemed to reverberate against the walls of the lab, energy beginning to generate in a circular pattern around his abdomen as he felt the cold overtaking him once more. His eyes shut, the light began to split into two rings as they ran down along his body; the rearrangement of molecules covering him in a black hazmat suit and that all familiar white trim. His hands gloved in white, as well as boots, he stood once more in their service, the ring going up along his body bleached out his hair to a snow white, his eyes snapped open as familiar bright emerald eyes shone, glowing eerily. His eyebrows knitted together briefly before coming down in an angered expression, his fingers closing into his palms and balled them into fists. Where once stood fourteen year old Daniel Fenton, the ghost from the past returned, bringing back...

"Danny Phantom..." whispered Sam, watching as the young boy who was once her first love, stand before them again, unaged because of the body he now inhabited.

Tucker's smile stretched, and in that smile he grew younger and younger inside. He could feel it welling inside of him as his mouth opened up, "Go get 'em Danny!"

Tears welling in her eyes, Sam smiled as well, nodding a bit as Danny turned his gaze towards them, that confident boyish smile stretched across his features. Snapping his attention back at his doppelganger, he ground out, "Spectre, for picking on my friends, alive and dead, I'm going to make you pay." As cheesy as it sounded, the tone of voice he used was deadly serious.

Laughing, Spectre folded his arms over his chest and grinned, the red outlining of his eyes seeming to shine. "Phantom, you forget, I have a body too now. _Your body_."

Forcing his foot against the floor, Danny shot forward with an alarming speed as his voice pulled up to catch him, "Not for long you're not!"

The motion was fluid as Danny's hand reeled back, leaving behind several afterimages of his arm behind, then threw his punch towards his doppelganger. The afterimages of the fist pummeled down upon Spectre as if each was as real as his actual fist. The speed in which he was moving was alarming; it seemed as if Danny had augmented his spiritual abilities inside of Dan's body.

Spectre reeled, but seemed almost unphased, at least, not as phased as he should have been. Bringing both hands back, Spectre channeled red ectoplasm into his fingertips, then begun releasing spiritual bullets, and fired them towards him with a speed that could barely be caught by his two best friends.

Jazz moved closer and seemed to examine Skulker; checking him over. He looked wounded, but she couldn't tell, seeing as how ghosts and spirits weren't her expertise. Reaching up towards a pair of red glassed goggles her mother usually wore, she slid them over her eyes to get a better look at the ghost.

"I'm not sure how to handle this guys..." she uttered as Tucker turned his head towards her.

"Do the best you can," Tucker replied.

She nodded as Sam continued watching the battle, her eyes glued to it. They were moving incredibly fast, but because they were using bodies now, it was a little easier to catch their movements… though not by much. Danny's control over his powers seemed to have gotten stronger, much stronger since that time so long ago. She should've guessed as much, it had been twenty years.

_But Danny didn't age at all... _her mind prodded. She felt a little self conscious now and cast her head down a bit. Tucker gently slid his hand over her shoulder in a gently squeeze of reassurance.

"Shh... it's fine..." he whispered to try to soothe her fears.

With a little bit of a smile, she nodded turning her vision back to the battle.

In the bodies they now inhabited, they seemed evenly matched; however, Spectre was waning in power, for what reason, he couldn't figure out.

"Slowing down?!" shouted the previous owner of the body.

Spectre raised his arm up to block the blow meant for his face and skidded backwards from the force, a great majority of it channeled through his arm and through his leg, sending a massive shockwave against the floor. Spectre grimaced; this wasn't going well for him. He could only watch Danny as he brought his fist back, he saw green energy manifest around his fist; a rumble of unrestrained force which caused the air in front of him to distort before his very eyes. Spectre's eyes widened briefly; he knew this attack. He pulled his hands into tight fists while drawing his forearms up in front of him and projected the energy out from his body, constructing a shield of a crimson color before him.

"_**DaiReiHou!**_" shouted the green eyed savior.

He thrust his fist forward; the sphere of energy lashed out from Danny's fist and expanded rapidly into a massive ball of pure hurt. The large sphere collided with Spectre and sent him skidding backwards, his figure crashing into the wall from the concentrated force being pushed upon him. The orb continued pushing against the shield, before shattering it like a piñata, and crashed against Spectre's form, sending him back and deeper into the wall. Danny's outstretched hand closed immediately as the sphere detonated, sending a shockwave of spiritual force throughout the room as the explosion rocked the laboratory. Danny snapped his fingers downward, his fingertips smoking from the recent release of energy, electric green eyes glowing now.

"Give it up Spectre." he said sternly, he wasn't about to give mercy to this ghoul, not in the least; not after everything that had happened.

The metal door slid up noisily, averting their attention for just a brief moment. Spectre noticed his chance in this and took it. In a desperate attempt, he targeted the two standing in the doorway by bringing his hand out; red energy crackled at his fingertips as he manifested the necessary force behind it quickly into his hand. Danny, turned his eyes back just in time to see Spectre let loose a sphere of spiritual force. Danny dashed off in the direction of the blast; his form momentarily disappeared from view by the sheer force of speed he was exerting.

He shifted back into existence almost immediately, seeming to appear out of nowhere in front of Harold and Alex; before they could even scream he brought his hands back while spiritual force gathered at his fingertips. He threw his hands forward and coated them with ectoplasma. The blast gathered at his fingertips, rolling about into his palm as it crashed against him, sending him skidding back a couple of inches. His hands moved into the center of the blast, his fingers digging into the energy before him before he ripped it down the center, sending shards of the energy all around him like cheap confetti, harmlessly falling to the ground.

Breathing heavily, Danny turned to where Spectre had once been, finding him gone and no where to be seen or felt. Growling, he brought his fist over to his chest then slammed it against the frame of the door, sending an echo throughout the lab. His snowy white hair hung over his eyes as he growled out, "Dammit..."

Alex stared at the back of their savior, quietly venturing out, "D...Dan-"

Her call out to him is quickly cut off when she noticed her mother and father rush the boy, both sets of arms wrapped tightly around him. The trio spun around a couple of times leaving the young girl stumped.

"Danny!" she heard her mother uncharacteristically squeal, Alex's violet eyes widened as the vision of her best friend seemed not to protest in the least, but merely smiled in return.

"M...mom?" Alex blinked, watching her crying mother and father hug onto her best friend for dear life, as if he would somehow disappear if they had not. Confusion filled her expression as she looked between her best friend then to her parents.

They didn't seem to take notice, her father's deep voice seeming joyous as he patted Dan on the shoulder, "Danny, it's so good to see you!"

He saw Dan this morning, what the hell was going on?

Dan, who seemed to have aged before her eyes, at least, mentally, only waved a hand a bit, smiling at the two of them tiredly and meekly, "It is... I missed you two so very much..."

Confusion over the situation was getting bigger; confusion quickly turned to frustration, which quickly assumed the guise of anger as she closed her eyes and screamed at the top of her lungs to garner their attention, "_**WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!**_"

Startled a bit out of their reunion, the white haired boy blinked at her, seeming to notice something about the violet eyed girl staring angrily at the three of them. He blinked twice, leaned forward, before lurching back suddenly as if he had been punched and pointed at her accusingly, "_**YOUR DAUGHTER?!**_"

She was the one to blink now, watching as her parents began to laugh heartily, and her mother flushed while her father wrapped his arms around Dan from the neck and leaned over his smaller frame while he said, "A lot of things happen in twenty years Danny."

He made a face, casting a sideways glance at each of his best friends, "Apparently." He looked rather... cute pouting like that. As if he'd missed out on something big; this was, in his case, the last twenty years…

She gathered her form up from the floor and pointed at Dan with a shaky finger, growling out at him while her violet eyes burned like embers of coal, "You, Mister. Explain yourself."

He blinked at her fingertip and slowly shifted his gaze towards her mother, looking for the most part, a little lost by the girl's anger at him but also teasingly cynical, "I can tell she got that from you."

A blush stained the cheeks of both Foley women as Sam brought her hands up defensively.

Alex blinked a bit then pointed at her mother, then the rest of the wasted scene around them, "What's going on here mom?"

Sam smiled a little, blushing a bit before nudging her daughter, "I guess we should tell you and Harold everything too."

Harold hadn't moved she noticed. Alex brought her hand up and waved her hand in front of his eyes, his face plastered in the same expression he had just as the door opened and that speeding ball of light came hurdling at them. Sighing, Alex rubbed her temples in annoyance; it felt like it was going to be a long, _**long**_ afternoon.

Jazz came up from behind, wearing a pair of these really weird red goggles, and... she was holding up what looked to her to be the faint shape of a man; a fairly large man in fact. For some reason her eyes couldn't seem to focus on the being Jazz held up, though Dan turned to look over the entity.

"Skulker, damn I almost forgot," voiced the white haired boy.

Jazz seemed to smile as he took what looked to be a blur from Alex's point of view, and set it down on the floor. He brought his hands out, green light began to emit from his hands, spreading the light over the body of the blur, and faintly, she could make out a clearer image of what it was when she was looking through the light coming from his hands that was now flooding the room in its luminescence.

Groaning, all Skulker knew as he regained consciousness, was pain. Opening his eyes painfully, he looked up through the green light to see Danny's smiling face down upon him. "...I see I'm not non-existant yet..." he muttered.

Danny's voice seemed to have a tinge of amusement, "Seems so… Thanks for keeping him occupied for me Skulker."

Nodding wearily, he asked, "Did you get the body back?"

Looking downcast, Danny shook his head, "No, no I didn't."

Sighing a little Skulker peered through the light at him with a puzzled expression. "Then how are you...?" his voice trailed off as Danny smiled in return.

"Borrowing someone's. When he wakes up he might be cross with me."

Snickering quietly, Skulker nodded a bit. The healing effect was working as well as it could and all he needed was time now. Danny gathered himself up, wandered past the group and to the portal. He poked his head into the portal, his voice seemed to float in the air as he called in, "Hey Desiree, come get Skulker."

He pulled himself back from the portal and what looked to be another apparition quietly made her way from the green vortex. The green skin toned womanly figure that stepped out of the vortex was no less beautiful than a goddess like art sculpture. Her long, silky black hair hung down near the back around where what would be considered her thighs were, the raven hair wisped like a cloak behind her. Wearing East Indian garments, her bracelets, despite being ghostly and not made out of any physical substance, lightly clicked together as she brushed her fingertips by her eyes, tucking some of her loose hair behind her ear seductively. The females within the room felt a small tinge of jealousy despite better intentions.

Her womanly figure was undeniable and her sultry smile seemed to light up the room as she floated silently behind Danny, who slid his hands behind his head nonchalantly, peering towards his fallen comrade. "I know this is a little much, but could you take him back to base?"

Smiling quietly towards the green eyed boy, she nodded a bit, "No problem Danny."

Skulker sighed slightly through his nose as she brought his arm around her neck while hefting him up and floated with him in tow.

"Come back soon, okay boss?" said the one time bounty hunter.

Nodding a bit, he smiled reassuringly, "Keep the fort for me guys."

Nodding in unison, the two specters soon floated through the vortex, the rip in dimensional space winding down like a timer, then closed behind them. Sighing slightly, Danny brought his hand up to his hair, pushed it back tiredly, and turned to face bewildered looks from his friends, new and old.

Jazz was the first to find her voice, "Uh... what just happened?"

It seemed to go for all of them as Danny smiled gently, just a little elated to be in the real world again. "I guess I should start at the beginning... but the boy's about to wake up, so let's take this into the kitchen, and finish there." They all nodded slowly, save for Harold whom kept the same position, leaving his uncle to gather him up, and follow as Danny led the troop back into the kitchen.

* * *

"So," Alex began, sitting in front of the knees of Dan, who had just become unpossessed and occupied the chair behind her, "you're saying, you're Daniel Fenton, Dan's uncle?"

Nodding, the specter of one Danny Fenton smiled while in the air, sitting in an Indian style position. Despite being in the Ghost Zone for so long, and even not having his body, his complexion didn't change to that sickly green everyone was used to; he simply looked like a more transparent version of himself. His blue eyes seemed to glow a bit as he sat there, he wore baggy blue jeans and a simple white shirt with red trim along the collar and arms completed with an oval pattern over the chest. His messy black hair seemed to have been a family trait, which Alex noted in a small glance at the boy sitting behind her.

Dan had his head in his hand, taking all this in was giving him an extreme headache the likes of which no one should ever feel; the fact he could see and hear his dead uncle better than some of those gathered was also a little disturbing. Tucker made coffee for all those that needed it, Jazz took her seat at the table with Sam sitting beside her. Harold was still a little petrified, but was slowly warming with the story telling.

Alex looked critically at Danny, whom looked a little nervous under her scrutiny. "So why did you take Dan's body?"

Danny had already explained about how he first became Danny Phantom, their fights and trials, the last battle he and his friends saw each other, his time in Ghost Zone, and even about the little war going on now. Danny thought for a moment as he sat there in mid-air, scratching his cheek lightly.

"Actually, it wasn't all that planned. It seemed pretty natural when I collided with him but at the time I wasn't really thinking. See, when Sam distracted me for a moment," he couldn't help but notice her flush in embarrassment, momentarily stopping to whisper towards her, "It's fine, I'm not blaming you." she nodded quietly in reply as he smiled a bit and turned back to Alex, "As I was saying, when I got distracted, Spectre was able to get control of the body from me, enough so that it launched me out and pretty much catapulted me."

He paused briefly, as if considering, "I guess my consciousness was looking for a similar form, so when it sensed Dan I guess that's how I ended up in his body." Dan groaned quietly as Danny laughed a bit nervously, "Sorry about that, it was kind of urgent I commandeer your body."

Dan nodded a bit, keeping his head in his palm; his head hurt with all this ghost stuff. He had heard his grandparents were big ghost hunters but never heard of, or knew anyone who'd been possessed. Though it was a first hand experience, he felt like he just ran a marathon.

Silence afterwards floated in the air before Danny's voice came out unexpectedly cheerfully, "I'm glad you two got together for some happiness."

Alex blinked as she glanced towards her parents, watching her father smile a little sadly with her mother sharing a similar expression. Confusion crossed her face as Danny floated down, and slid his hands into his pockets, much in the way Dan did. He smiled up towards her father, and then turned his gaze to her mother, whom merely blushed under his eyes and continued smiling.

"I'm really glad you're still protecting her Tuck. I know it's been hard. Hard for you both," he said while fiddling with the edge of his pocket.

Her father smiled a sad little smile, his eyes sympathizing with the spectral boy, "Not as hard as it has been for you it seems."

Danny's eyes seemed to be downcast briefly, his hair trailing over those two luminescent sapphires but he brightened up quickly. "Maybe. But I can see your daughter's already a handful."

Alex looked lost for a moment, still looking at her mother who seemed to smile sadly as Danny continued on with the playful banter with her father. What was going on between her parents and this phantasm of their old friend?

Dan sighed a bit, looking to his mother, "Mom," his voice turning the attention of the room towards him, "is this why you didn't tell me anything about my uncle?"

Danny smiled a bit as Jazz began to laugh quietly, "Something like that," she said and continued, "it'd be hard for you to believe your uncle was a wannabe superhero."

Danny's face scrunched up, as he looked at her indignantly. "Wannabe? I _am_ a superhero." he stated with that all knowing air Jazz projected much of the time.

Jazz smiled softly towards her younger sibling, reaching out to mess up his hair. Her fingers made contact, his hair messing a bit as he had become a little more solid for a few brief moments. He wrinkled his nose a bit in a bit of feigned distaste as he went about fixing his hair.

Laughter rung out cheerfully through the room as Dan waved a hand tiredly. "Please don't be so loud..." he muttered as Alex leaned back against his legs to peer up at him.

_Poor guy, he went through a lot today... _she thought silently. Turning her attention to the ghost, she tipped her head slightly, "One more question," Danny's head turned in her direction, seeming serious, "why do you need that body? Or a body at all for that matter when you're already a ghost?"

He paused for a moment of silence, a thoughtful expression crossing his features as he took a deep breath, bringing his hands up and pushing the raven black hair from his eyes, "Well, you see, it was found out that when in possession of a body through the kind of bonding I had, it made said ghost that much more powerful. Seeing as how my body was the only halfa body in Ghost Zone as well as its unique construction, Spectre and I had been fighting for control of it over the course of years."

"Since we were trapped together for quite a while I forced us to stay in Ghost form so he couldn't escape, which also meant I couldn't escape either. Eventually, he booted me out simply because he was trained better. A war broke out and I joined up with my former enemies as a resistance group." he paused to catch a breath that wasn't even there, "I'd trained with a ghost master in my separation from my body, a martial arts master who taught me Reiki Hadouken. Sort of like the Ghost Zone's version of a zen master. He showed me how to become stronger spiritually, and up till a few moments ago, we were winning."

He scratched his forehead idly while he floated before them, "Before I came through the portal, Skulker, Desiree, Box Ghost, and I had infiltrated the stronghold. Technus was being held prisoner to create a machine like the Ghost Portal so Spectre could come into this world. Technus couldn't get it to work; I guess until you turned on the power, it couldn't get a signal." He paused again, smiling a little, before frowning as his story continued, "Anyway, Skulker and I took the point while Desiree and Box went to free Technus. We cornered Spectre and I leapt back into the body. Skulker was trying to disable it when the portal opened up. Spectre took control and threw Skulker through, and followed. Then I got control briefly, and the rest you already know."

Silence came as he finished, Danny looking between the faces as he scratched his cheek, and looked to try putting up a cheerful front. "Everything'll turn out alright. Seeing as how we now have exclusive access to the portal, he can't call his goons nor can he return to the Ghost Zone."

Blinking, Tucker leaned forward curiously, "Goons?"

Blinking in return, Danny laughed nervously and brought his hand behind his head, "Guess I must have skipped over it. But the reason why there's a war in the Ghost Zone, besides Spectre and my little vendetta, is because Spectre freed several demons. We closed the gate before any more got out but we're having trouble rounding them up."

Wide eyes turned to him as Danny rubbed his forehead, "Okay, _**okay**_! I know it was a big deal but look; I just need to get Spectre, get my body away from him, return back to Ghost Zone and clean up the rest. It'll be a piece of cake." Really, Alex could hardly surmise where this baseless confidence came from.

Nodding slowly, the room seemed to acknowledge it anyway as Sam picked her eyes from the table and peered at him, "So... what are you going to do now?"

Danny rubbed the back of his head slightly, thinking it over for a moment before replying, "I guess I'll just stay here for a while. I don't exactly want to go back, it's a little hectic being the leader and all. Skulker's pretty capable so we should be fine until I take care of the whole Spectre mess." He paused as he thought it over, "Is my room still..."

Jazz smiled a bit, "Sort of. Daniel is the current occupant."

Danny glanced at what would possibly be his double in this lifetime, nodding a little. "I see... um... Dan..?"

Dan peered past his fingers, looking at his blue eyed mirror image, still feeling a little weird that his dead uncle came back from the land of the dead to save the world.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I'd like to stay with you," the specter asked earnestly.

Did ghosts even sleep? He looked to his mother for an answer, only to find her eyes telling him that it was his decision. He groaned into his fingers, burying his face into the palm of his hand. Why did he have to make all the weird decisions? This wasn't exactly like a friend sleeping over, this was his dead uncle. …haunting his room for lack of a better term.

Still… he'd feel bad if he said no, after all, despite all things, he was flesh and blood. ...in spirit at least. His namesake, but he was a little creeped out about having a spirit inside of his body; he didn't know how he'd take sleeping with a ghost looking after him. He peered past his fingers into the soft violet eyes Alex projected towards him while she leaned back against his shins. He gazed briefly into the violet pools within her eyes as if searching for an answer within them. Sighing lightly before shutting his eyes, he took a deep breath. "Alright, it's okay with me. But don't _**ever**_ take my body without asking again."

Danny nodded a bit in understanding while Jazz let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. The tension in the room died quickly as Sam and Tucker gathered themselves to their feet, smiling. "Come on Alex, its time to go home," voiced Tucker as he picked up the dazed Harold and set him under his arm as if carrying a pillow.

Alex blinked, a little awestruck at how calmly her parents took to their life threatening experience; as if the whole ordeal wasn't that big of a deal. She looked lost for the moment as Tucker brought his hand over Sam's shoulder, hugged her lightly and waved for Danny. "You wouldn't mind walking with _**old**_ friends, would you Danny?"

The ghost smiled softly, his blue eyes softening as he flashed them a large, if not comical grin, "Define walking."

The trio burst into laughter, getting the corny joke as if it were the funniest thing in the world. Alex could only stare at her parents, shaking her head slowly as they headed towards the door, spirit in tow.

Danny glanced over his shoulder, smiling brightly, "I'll be back home later sis. We have a lot of catching up to do!" he said cheerfully. Jazz nodded slowly, smiling after the spirit of her younger brother.

* * *

Danny's spirit hung onto her father's back as he lugged Harold beneath one arm, her mother standing beside them. Alex trailed behind as she watched, randomly hearing comments from the phantom boy such as, _'Hey, you're pretty tall'_ and _'Wow, I can see the world from here'_. Apparently her father had been as tall as he was when they were in high school. Not that _**that**_ was very long. Her mother's eyes seemed happy and sad at the same time, she had been quiet for the most part and that had made her feel a little uneasy. After all, her mother was known for her cynicism, her sarcasm, and wit. She'd reply with an answer anytime Danny would ask a question or make a comment, but for the most part she was quiet.

Alex was lost in thoughts of her own and was pretty quiet as well. She kept her eyes fixated on the ghost of her parents' best friend, before soulful blue eyes turned to meet hers. The little gesture jolted her out of her staring; she turned her head away quickly, found the apparition as he swung himself from her father's shoulders, and landed right next to her. Hands diving into his pockets, he walked side by side with her. ...well walk wouldn't be the appropriate word; more like floated but looked like he was walking. A few moments of silence thickened between them before Danny broke the silence with a smile, "Nice night huh?"

She blinked, "Huh?"

That was totally unexpected. She glanced back to her parents whom didn't even turn back to see them, and continued walking at their own pace, lugging Harold. She surmised Harold would be sleeping at their place tonight.

Danny repeated, smiling still, "It's a nice night." The voice she had always associated with Dan came from the ghost's mouth, though the playfulness and unexpected cheer despite his situation was definitely pinned to this apparition. She nodded dumbly for the moment, before he made a side glance to her while tipping his head ever so slightly, "So what's with you and my nephew?"

...that was weird; hearing that sort of phrase come out from someone that looked like a transparent version of the person in question was just plain strange. Even worse, she thought he looked pretty serious.

"We're just friends," she said, almost too quickly she realized as it came out from her lips, "We've been best friends since pre-school. Harold and Dan have been best friends since they were in diapers."

She smirked, almost laughing at the idea of Dan and Harold in diapers getting into trouble. Something like a Rugrats episode plugged into her mind. Danny leaned forward a bit, eyeballing her, in turn; her head moved back a bit, a little creeped out and a little intrigued by the ghost boy as violet eyes watched him curiously.

"What?" she asked while crimson began to stain her cheeks, her eyes fixated on and through him.

The ghost boy pulled back, and merely smiled, a Cheshire-like grin that spread across his features that wasn't anything like the smile Spectre had projected. No, this was more mischief than anything like malice or hatred.

Her parents glanced back as Danny replied, "Nothing, just déjà vu."

A heated blush crossed her mother's face in turn as Sam lightly swatted at Danny, "You're terrible."

The hand moved right through his body but he and her mother kept going as if it were normal and nothing was out of the ordinary. "I know." He said and beamed them a smile.

He looked around briefly. "Hey..." he began before his infectious smile became a lot bigger, "You live in the same place?"

Tucker nodded a bit, smiling over his shoulder, "Sam's mother and father gave us the place. It's a lot simpler for our needs than any of their other homes."

Danny nodded a bit, Alex noted the awed expression in his features, before he continued with his questioning, "So what do you do now Tuck?"

She couldn't help but find it weird that her parents made Dan call them by their first names like this because of him, but their conversations were never with this level of familiarity. Maybe it was what was missing and why her mother couldn't face Dan in recent years.

"Oh, well, I majored in electronics and right now," her father explained, "I run Manson's electronics firm. It was my idea to expand into that field and we've grown a certain level of success from it."

Danny nodded, bringing his finger up and pointing to her mother, "How 'bout you Sam?"

She turned around, walking backwards to face the ghost, thinking for the moment before finding her answer, "I'm a master of the artistic caliber."

He looked lost for a moment, grinned wickedly, and then replied, "So you're a janitor?"

She made an obviously indignant face and folded her arms over her stomach, "_**No.**_"

He laughed softly, nodding a little, "I always knew you'd be a great artist Sammy…" She blushed in the darkness and watched his gentle blue eyes glance between them. "Twenty years... wow... you guys have done a lot." he made a small, almost sad glance in Alex's direction, one she caught but her parents hadn't, "Even have a beautiful daughter to boot."

She felt a little weird with him looking at her like that, it wasn't unpleasant, but it just made her feel uneasy. Though being a ghost, the fact he looked like a mirror image of Dan made it a little weird and her insides a little uneasy. Sam turned back and continued walking with Tucker, nodding a bit to their ghostly friend and sighed with a small smile, "It has been a good life..." though all three had wished they'd had spent those twenty years together, forever.

Alex noticed the mood changing a bit before Danny threw his arms around the necks of the two friends he had in life, lightly hugging them, "I told you it wasn't goodbye." he smiled, "Now you have to deal with me all over again."

Tucker smiled, adjusting his glasses as a bit of the 'charm' he had as a boy came out, "Not like we'd ever want to."

Sam grinned, peering at the two males in her life, "I'm thinking we're going to be the ones fixing that thermos."

Danny snorted a bit, if that was possible, "No kidding, without my dad around, our technical wizard here is going to have to pick up the slack."

Tucker nodded, easing a little as he patted Danny's arm, feeling the cold of his form and sighed melodramatically. "I see long nights ahead of me."

A moment of pause lingered in the air as all three burst into laughter. It felt like old times, Sam had thought, just the three of them goofing around like children. It was... refreshing, comforting, like an old blanket that she could wrap herself around in. It made her and Tucker feel alive, more so than the two of them had in the last twenty years. Not that having a family and raising a daughter was all that bad, but having just that little bit missing from their lives was enough to change everything.

They blinked as Danny slid back from them; they turned, watched him pass right through Alex, whom gave a small shudder as the cold went through her, and all blinked at him. He laughed a bit, "We almost passed your place. But since I've walked you guys here, I'll be seeing you tomorrow. Need to get my quarters in order."

Both Sam and Tucker, lost in their memories only now noticed they were at their home. Alex had been busy watching the soulful blue eyes of the ghost and wondered what mystery they held inside of them. She could see a strange little sadness behind that mask of cheer and for some strange, unexplainable reason, she wanted to know more.

Danny smiled again, looking as if he were about to leave, then bolted back to the two, hugging them tightly in his arms. His form momentarily became solid with concentration and his eyes shut tightly as he smiled largely, "I love you guys. I've missed you so much..." he felt their arms hugging him as well as they whispered the same. The little reunion of the trio lasted for a few moments more before Danny broke away from the two tearful friends he had in life.

Alex watched as he waved, then took off into the sky, and heading back in the direction of Dan's house. The wisp of vapor from his take off still lingered in the air as she looked after him, violet eyes watching the departure with a sort of sympathy and something else she couldn't place.

Samantha lightly wrapped her arms around her daughter, quietly tugged her back to her and sighed softly. "He's something else isn't he?" she said while resting her head on top of her offspring's.

Alex continued looking after, her eyes half opened as she turned her head a bit to her mother, "Mom... did you and he...?"

Sam smiled a sort of sad little smile, shaking her head as she held her daughter quietly. "No, no… it never even got a chance to blossom before it ended."

Alex felt a little sad, maybe sorry for the ghost who apparently left a lasting mark on both her mother and father. She wondered if she was just born out of convenience but as her mother held her, she whispered, as if hearing her daughter's thoughts, "Your father and I love each other, but Danny, was and always will be part of my heart. Your father understands that as well."

Alex nodded quietly, sighing helplessly in her mother's arms, bringing her own up to hug her forearms. It felt a little comforting with all the craziness of the day, like it was keeping her sanity grounded. A soft kiss along her temple alerted her to her mother slowly sliding away and heading into their home. Her father was already inside setting Harold up with a room she could only assume. She stood out there a few more moments, watching the sky quietly, almost seeing two blue eyes in the darkness. Two beautiful, sad eyes that shared a face with her best friend and for that Alex felt a small tugging at the strings of her heart.

**To Be Continued...**


	4. Episode 03: Not the Only One

A Means to an End, Beginning of Another

Episode 03: Not The Only One

Sighing softly, Dan pushed his messy black hair from his eyes, peering towards the aparition beside him. "Are you sure no one can see you?" The ghost, a mirror image of himself with the only difference seeming to be blue eyes, nods simply, bringing his arms up over his head and looking as if he were popping his back. Though he didn't have a body of course. "Yeah. Well, no one except for a few people. But that's only because they've been in contact with me or spiritual things." He seemed pretty knowledgable, his blue eyes seeming to shine, "Tucker and Sam can see me of course, just because of their long term exposure to myself and the other ghosts from the Ghost Zone. Sam has a better connection than Tucker cause we share a small psychic link. Your mother can see me because of the brother-sister bond we have. The goggles help too." Dan pointed to himself but remained silent as Danny continued, "You can see me clearer than all of them because one, you're part of my family like your mother, two, because I've been in your body." Dan slides his hands behind his head, looking up towards the sky, "So, basically it's a more extreme case of what Alex's parents have," the ghost nods to this, "How about Alex?" Danny pondered a bit, laughing, "I think besides the fact she has their combined intelligence, the spiritual residue from not only me but all the ghosts, ghouls, and general weirdness of being possessed; rubbed off on her. She can see me pretty clearly I surmise." Dan paused to let it all sink in. It was weird to be talking to his dead uncle like this. It had been a couple of days of getting used to having him in his room, it was taking a little while longer to have all this ghost business thrown at him. Dan didn't like the idea of someone taking over his body, to which Danny had promised to get express permission from then on. It made him a little comfortible, but didn't make him feel as easy as he should have. The spectre of Danny Fenton peers up into the sky, laughing a little, "I can say something good about being like this," Dan turned to look at his uncle, "I don't have to go to school." Dan groaned.

Danny smiles, his eyes shutting briefly, "Golden years aren't exactly golden are they?" Dan nodded in agreement, his hands shoving deep into his pockets, "You can say that again," he replied as they approached Alex's house. Sitting on the front doorstep was the girl in question, her elbows propped on her knees as she stared into the sky quietly. Her thoughts wandered, staring into the deep blue, the faint hint of clouds slowly passing by her vision. Today she wore a slightly less figure exposing garment in the form of baggy blue jeans and a white dress shirt, a black T-shirt pulled over it, exposing the collar and rolled up sleeves of the dress shirt. She wore a red cap on her head, having it tilted slightly to the side with her newly highlighted bangs hanging freely in a soft, scarlet color; violet eyes remaining fixed on the horizon. At first, she didn't even notice the hand moving in front of her eyes, it wasn't until twin images of her best friend appeared in front of her, the only minor difference being the color of their eyes. She blinked, slowly at first, then shook herself out of her thoughts. "Oh... hey didn't see you there," she said lamely. Dan wrinkled his nose a bit speaking first, "We've been in front of you for about three minutes." Danny drew his hand back, blue eyes looking a little concerned. "What're you doing sitting on the porch?" asked the spirit, an honest smile crossing her face, "Sorry, my parents flew out of town for a few hours. They told me, to tell you, that the thermos would be ready later today." Dan wrinkled his nose a bit, peering between his uncle and his friend, "Thermos?" Danny laughs nervously, before making a motion with his hand, "You'd think it weird that a thermos worked well as a ghost capturing device." Dan's face showed a bit of skepticism, but merely replied with, "Stranger things have happened." With that, the three began towards Casper High School.

"Nothing's really changed..." Danny mused, his eyes darting around at the houses. It was true, the same dull colors, lawns, and even white picket fences. He couldn't believe how in twenty years time, hardly a thing changed. Sure, the hardware store was now a parking lot for the mall which stood on what used to be an empty field, and **_sure_** the ice cream shop was no longer in business, replaced by a fast food take out place, but largely, it was unchanged. Harold hadn't been to school since the incident, seemed as if he was shell shocked still seeing ghosts and goblins. Well... just ghosts. Alex and Dan were a bit worried about him, but largely tended to keep their concerns to a minimal. After all, who knew Harold better than his two best friends? He'd get over it in his own time. Danny floated quietly beside the two, taking in every sight, filling his vision with the vibrant life that was the living world. Ghost world, in comparison was bland by far, shades of green, black, electric blue sometimes, but never as fulfilling as this. Alex watched quietly, looking at her best friend a bit, then the profile of the ghostly boy. They were so similar and so different, it was weird seeing them. It was like they were two halves of one person. Apparently Dan was the more intelligent of the two when Danny recounted his favorite phrase, '_If I weren't a C level student_', followed by the excuse. She found it mildly amusing, before seeing Danny stop in his floating, looking back behind them. She blinked and tugged on Dan's shirt, before both turned around. Danny erked as he was literally run through by a larger figure, soon showing itself in the form of Flash Baxter.

Dan groaned, bringing his fingertips to his forehead. He knew that not seeing Flash yesterday was too good to be true. Taking a deep breath as his uncle watched on, he looked up towards the 'all American guy' and 'everyone's idol', flashing a smile, his eyes shutting, "Hey Flash, how goes it?" His tone didn't carry anything but the monotony of practice. Flash, of course, didn't notice it, nor did he feel the cold chill when he had run through the boy's ghostly uncle. "Hey Fenton," The ghost couldn't help but wince, he seemed to know that tone, "I heard you were eyeballing my sister in fifth period yesterday." It was true, he got caught, his mind mentally prodding that he should possibly give up and go for ... safer endeavors.The fact he got caught by the girl in question, as well as one of the players from the football team wasn't a good sign. Taking a deep breath, he laughs nervously, putting his hand behind his head, "Oh Flash, it must be some sort of mistake. I might have been looking out of the window and they mistook me for looking at your sister." Danny merely facefaults, his expression becoming rather disbelieving, with good reason as Flash growls, "She sits in the middle of the classroom." Well, you couldn't say Flash didn't have some intelligence. Flash pokes at Dan's chest, growling a bit, "Be at your locker in two minutes. Got it?" With that, he storms away, leaving the trio behind as Alex glances to him, "Why do you take this kind of junk from him?"

"Well, let's see," he begins counting off his fingers sarcastically, "He has the capability to beat me up, he has the capacity to sic the whole football team on me, and I don't want to get in bad graces with his sister." Danny looked a little surprised as he floated there, Alex turning to the ghost, noticing the slack jaw and the hanging mouth, "What's a matter?" Danny paused, closing his mouth as Dan turned to him as well, Danny closing his eyes for a few minutes, before bursting out laughing. "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Dan blinks at his uncle, tipping his head, "What?" Shaking his head Danny begins floating towards the school again, "Seems my bloodline is cursed to running into his bloodline." Dan blinks as Danny tips his head back to him, "I'll let you out of the locker when he's gone. Don't want you missing your first two or three periods waiting for someone to let you out." Alex blinked as well, before moving quickly to catch up, Dan following suit. "How..." they both began before the ghost moved his finger to silence them both, "His father and I go way back. I wonder who he married?" A young woman stepping off the bus as the three arrive gave him the answer to that question. The girl waves towards Flash, smiling quietly to the taller boy, angry looks thrown in random people's directions as they began towards the school. Danny smirks, sliding his hands behind his head, "That's his sister?" Alex nods, seeming to become strangely aggitated, "Yeah that's her. Dan, stop drooling." Dan sighs, picking his jaw from the floor.

"Well," began Danny, "that's a dangerous combination. Never would have seen _them_ getting together, but then again, like you said, stranger things have happened." Alex huffs a bit, holding her books closer to her chest. Danny, noticing this only smiles. _It's almost like then too..._, he thought quietly, deciding not to bring attention to it, he looks at Dan, "Hey don't you have an appointment?" Dan nods slightly, hanging his head. "Yeah no problem..." Danny smiles a bit after him, as soon as he leaves their eyesight, he whispers to her ear, "Hey get your phone out, I don't want them giving you weird looks." She nods a bit, picking her phone from her pocket. Flipping it open, Danny nods as she walks into the school with the ghost in tow. "So, how much time till class starts?" A mundane question he thought, but she replied anyway, "About fifteen minutes." He nods, thinking as they wandered the halls, the current situation seeming as if she were just talking to some friend on her phone, "Alright then," he looked her over a bit, floating in front of her, making himself a little more transparent as he floats backwards while talking, "So what's with the bangs and clothes?" She seemed a little less like her mother this way he surmised but she replied with, a small giggle escaping, "I've been watching too much anime lately." He paused, processing that, "Japanese cartoons?" he ventured as she nodded in reply. "Ahhhh..." as it dawned on him. And in all actuallity she didn't look bad that way. The way her ponytail tied back spiked out behind her, her bags frosted with hair gel, keeping it in place, even her clothes seemed to fit the look.

He could see a lot of her mother in her, from those deep pools of violet that seemed to hold a bit of mystery, a bit of mischief, and a lot of reason behind their depths, to the smile she projected at his inquiries. If he knew what he knew now all those years ago with Sam, things might have been different. He might have been able to have her first kiss. Danny Fenton regretted very few things in his life, and kissing Sam was one of them. He seemed a little lost before noticing Alex's worry etched expression. Tch, he'd been staring too long. He smiles softly, reaching out lightly, brushing his cold fingers by her forehead, causing her to flush lightly and shiver a bit. "You're worried about him." She blinked, nearly dropping her phone, "What?" she asked, a little shaken by his sudden statement. "Dan," he said, smiling, "You're worried about him getting hurt with that girl huh?" She paused, thinking it over. Deciding that confiding in him was okay, she nods a bit, "I am. I'm worried she's going to really hurt him, y'know?" The ghost nods a bit as she finds her locker, leaning against it with the phone still propped on her shoulder, watching the students mill about. The ghost sits above her on the top of the lockers, looking down upon her, her eyes cast up as if looking at the ceiling. He pondered his next statement, leaving a little hint, maybe some ambiguity, "Sam used to do that with me a lot. I guess you got that from her too." She rolls her eyes a bit before offering a warm smile. "Guess so." She made a small glance around before continuing, "Better go let Dan out of the locker. It's almost time for class." He opened his mouth to speak but caught him before he said anything, "371." With a small smile, she closed her phone, tucking it safely away into her pocket, then headed into the classroom.

The ghost quietly smiled, watching after the young girl, his arms folded over his chest. He takes a deep breath, grinning halfly to himself, "If only I were still alive," he said to himself, pushing off from the lockers and began floating towards the numbered locker, "Dan you have no idea what you're missing out on."

* * *

Dan picked his head up from his table, sighing lightly. The day went by incredibly slow, it was probably because he wasn't stuck in his locker for the first three periods. Note taking had lost it's interest and he found himself looking out the window. His ghostly uncle sat on the back of his chair, whispering to Alex every now and again, her replies written down on the paper she was taking notes on. At least they were entertaining themselves. Alex tried involving him into their conversation and looked a little disappointed when he declined in favor of trying to look busy. He had been wide awake up till fifteen minutes ago, especially after the way he got out of the locker. It was weird, when Danny took possession of his body briefly (only briefly, he agreed to it while in the locker), and he walked through the metal door. The feeling wasn't unpleasant as much as it was disturbing. Danny seemed to have made it look as if he had done it on multiple occasions and to his surprise apparently he had gone through practically the same thing. The coincidences were a bit disturbing, but he chose to dismiss them and just focus on resting his weary mind. The last few days, what with his uncle taking his body, the fight, the whole thing about being related to a ghostly hero was all a little disturbing. He still hadn't grasped everything but Alex took it in stride. He made a small side glance to her, watching her smile towards the ghost of his uncle. They seemed to get along quite well, he seemed to be telling stories about her parents which amused her to no end.

He felt a strange bit of resentment, maybe jealousy? ...he wasn't sure or would admit to himself so he quietly turned his head in the other direction, quietly thinking as he watched the wall. He tried his best not to look in the direction of Gwen, he'd already gotten caught last time and he didn't feel like getting throw into his locker again so soon after getting out. A small inaudible sigh escaped his lips as he continued looking at the wall, tracing his pencil along the lines of his notebook paper idly. Today was going by so incredibly slooooowww... he quietly shut his eyes, allowing them to rest, lest he strain them from staring at the wall.

Alex glances out of the corner of her eye towards the black haired young man. Scribbling down her question, she pointed to it with her eraser as Danny leaned over, looking at it. _'What's wrong with Dan?'_, he blinked, merely shrugging as he whispered, "I dunno." he peered towards the tired looking mirror image. Dan didn't move much but his pencil appeared to keep moving back and forth while his head rested quietly. It looked as if he were taking notes to the casual onlooker but to those who knew better, he was just plain bored out of his mind. He wondered if it had anything to do with the excitement his mind felt when he was in Dan's body and fighting Spectre. He hoped he didn't leave any residual emotions, that could lead to a whole lot of confusion. While pondering what possible causes it could be, Alex quietly folds her arms over her table, leaning her head on her forearms to watch his back silently. Dan, he meant a lot to her ever since they had become friends, and over the years it just continued to grow. She honestly wished him happiness, her eyes momentarily glancing towards Gwen, whom seemed to be in her own little world, twirling her hair around her finger idly waiting for the bell, and the school day, to end; but she couldn't see him happy with that shallow woman. Her eyes slid back over to his back, watching him shift slightly. He was aggitated about something, for what, she didn't have a clue. She could only tell so much without him saying anything. She guessed that he'd tell her when he was ready.

The drum of the bell shook the three out of their thoughts, Danny floating down to the ground, people beginning to file out towards the door, the ones in Alex's row walking through him, getting a cold chill as they moved by her. They cast her a few strange looks as she placed her things into her bag, sliding it onto her back while gathering her books. Dan moved quietly, sliding his things into his bag and tossing his pencils into the smaller compartment. The bored looking expression was further reinforced by his yawn, his eyes shutting as he threw an arm into the air, stretching quietly. "God today feels longer than it should..." he mumbled to himself, Alex offering a smile. He was just being his normal self, she didn't need to worry so much. ...that is until she made her way to him. Dan blinked as the girl of his affections stood near his desk, offering him a bright smile. Alex made a scowl, Danny blinking as he lightly sets his cool hands on her shoulders, her body feeling his cold enough to calm slightly as the sultry young woman opened her mouth to speak, "Fenton?" He winced a bit, unnoticible apparently to the woman currently in front of him, but he tried to look calm about it, clearing his throat to keep it from cracking. It only worked halfway as he replied, "Yeah Gwen?" The woman reached up, throwing her hair back over her shoulder, her tubetop holding lightly to the curves of her body, her soft, deep emerald gaze causing something inside the young man to melt. "I don't understand too much of this physics stuff," she said, Alex muttering audibly enough for Danny to hear, "Or much _else_..." Danny winced, hearing the bit of venom on her words. He wondered if that's how Sam acted when he talked about Paulina.

"Yeah?" Dan sounded lost, dumb, totally at her mercy as she smiled, another part of him melting, and if it could be seen, hearts floating out of his ears. Her full lips seemed to pout slightly, causing something inside of Dan's heart to skip a bit as she said, "I heard from Flash," the name caused him to wince unconsciously, "that you're actually pretty good at this stuff, so, would you mind coming with me to the mall and tutoring for a bit?" His eyes half opened, he looked elated, as if he'd just been offered eternal life, or something to that effect. He nodded dumbly, smiling stupidly as she lightly trailed a finger beneath his chin and turned, "Alright... I'll see you around 4?" He nods again stupidly, watching her wander through the door, leaving him in an elated stupor. He leaned against the wall, sighing happily, as if the simple question of being asked out like that meant he might have a chance with that girl. Alex frowned, her eyes narrowing a little as she watched Dan, mumbling to herself. Dan hearing a bit of her mumbling looked towards her with a sort of dazed expression, "You say something Alex...?" he looked as if he were on cloud 9. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she looked at him, forcing a smile, "No, nothing at all." with that she began to walk to the door, leaving behind a bewildered Dan. Danny blinked a bit, beginning to float forward as a wisp of blue vapor escaped out of his mouth, his eyes glazing over slightly. Dan stopped, noticing this as Alex did in her glance back to call Danny. "Er..." blinked Dan as Danny began glancing around, "Crap," was his only response as he began floating towards them, "Something from the Ghost Zone is around here. I'm uh, going to need your body Dan."

Dan blinked, "Oh no. Not today. This is the first and _only_ time Gwen has even asked me anything remotely resembling a date. Can't this wait?" Danny was about to speak as Alex seemed to burn red with a little resentment and maybe a little anger, "Let him go on his 'date' Danny. I'll go with you." she reached out to the spectre's wrist, leaving him awestruck and momentarily materializing his arm to let her drag him out of the room as she stormed out in a huff. Dan blinked after her, looking confused. Alone in the classroom he scratches his cheek lightly, "What's her deal today...?" he said to no one in particular, bringing his hand to his head and scratching furiously. "I'm never going to understand girls." with that, he began out of the classroom to change into some casual clothing, hoping to impress the object of his affections, at least just a little.

* * *

"The nerve of that idiot," she huffed, her eyes narrowed as she continued storming in the direction of the library. Danny was still held by her fingertips, which wasn't all that unpleasant despite her anger. He lightly tugged back, feeling her jerk back a little, her face turning to him in a bit of surprised, "Ah... is something wrong Danny?" He scratched his cheek lightly, floating slightly in front of her, "Er... well kinda and sorta..." She blinked a bit, tilting her head, seeming to ask a question in her gestures. "Well, y'see, we don't have a body to use if we do run into the fight..." She blinked, before a large smile crossing her face, "Well, you could use my body, right?" she said cheerfully, before scowling, "Unlike Dan who thinks that a date with that _wench _is worth more than doing what needs to be done." She huffed angrily as a bead of sweat pops off the back of Danny's head. _Well, seems she's got Sam's temperment times three. I wonder if it's that time of the month..._ he thought dryly as he lightly pats her shoulders. "Well, it's not entirely that simple." He lightly patted her shoulders, having her sit on the steps leading towards the library. She blinked, "Isn't it just possession?" He winced slightly, laughing nervously, "No it's not as simple as that." He waved his hand, producting what looked to be a diagram, "See, normal ghostly possession is sort of... unorthedox. When ghost A possesses a person, they're trying to change the person's body to suit them. Hense when people are possessed their skin tone changes to that unnatural green, red eyes, scales sometimes, etc. Now, when **_I_** possess someone, it's not because I want to change them into a form I can use. No, far from it, I'm merely borrowing them as a vessel, placing my knowledge, my reflexes, my abilities, and pretty much, my ghostly powers to use through them. Sure, with Dan it seemed like possession, but when we collided... I sort of knocked him out, so that doesn't count. You follow?"

She nodded slowly, trying to absorb what he was saying. He takes a breath briefly, before continuing, "With Dan, I was able to use my abilities to the fullest, for one, because he was blood. Family. The second, and biggest reason, is his body type and build are an exact match to what mine used to be. I was comfortible in the body so I could fight to my full extent. I'm sure I can possibly get into your body with little trouble," he paused, his eyes shutting as a faint stain crossed his face, "Okay that sounded wrong." It was Alex's turn to blush as he waved a hand, continuing, "What I mean to say is, I wouldn't have a problem bonding with you. But since I don't know your equilibrium, I'm not sure how well I'd be able to handle it..." She blinks a little, sorting it out a bit. "Well..." she thought, carefully placing her words together, "would it be possible for me to be in control of my body, while using your abilities? You could teach me as we went along?" He blinked. It wasn't that bad of an idea he thought, he was actually planning on doing the same thing with Dan. Though... he tapped his cheek, looking over her, before voicing his thoughts, "Well, it wouldn't hurt. It'd be a nice back up plan in case Dan decides to pull something like this again." She nods enthusiastically as Danny felt a wisp escape from his mouth, the cold vapor familiar as he slowly floats down. "It's here."

She glanced around, before looking back at him, "So what do we do?" Danny began glowing, before constructing himself into a little blue sphere. The sphere poofed into a bright blue flame, his face appearing on the face of the ball, before shooting to her chest. She lurches back a bit, stumbling while closing her eyes as she felt the cool flame contact her skin and into her body, sending a warm, pleasant shiver down her spine. Then she felt it, his voice in her head, '_Okay. This isn't a bad start. You mind letting me control your body for the moment?_' He was pretty polite about it, so how could she refuse? She shook her head a bit, feeling a little detached, yet still there as he took her form. Her eyes opened, the normally violet irises shining a soft, soulful blue. The smile that crossed her features didn't seem to fit as her body began moving into the library, pushing the heavy door open and moving into the darkness. '_So,_' she asked within the mindscape, watching Danny take control of her actions._ 'what do you think it is?_' Danny pondered, Alex's face seeming to follow the thoughtful look, before Danny replied using her voice, in a soft whisper "Well, it's probably a librarian ghost. Ghosts tend to haunt places they have an affinity or familiarity with." Inside of her own mind she nodded, watching as Danny carefully rounded the corner with her body. Blinking, her body moves back quickly, flipping onto one hand as a plasma covered book goes crashing into the wall where she once stood, her eyes flashing to look into the darkness. Slowly coming into her newly aquired ghost vision, she found the librarian. The portly spectre floats, holding what looked to be one of those library carts.

The ghost hovered, holding a book and hissed between what would be considered teeth, "Quiet!" she ground out while seeming to reload another book into her hand. The large glasses overshadowed what would be considered her eyes, casting a strong glare from them, her large beehive hairdo showing that she'd died quite some time ago. Anny (which she will be referred to from now on while Danny's in her body), narrows her sapphire eyes, Alex inside of the mindscape folding her arms over her chest, a little surprised at the manuver that Danny was able to perform with her body. Time inside of her mind seemed to move slower as Danny made a motion for her, '_I'm really going to need your help now._' She nodded. Both their forms seemed to blur together, Danny's superimposed upon Alex's as her blue eyes snapped open once more. Anny brought herself to stand up straight, lowering her hand and snapping her fingertips downward lightly, "I'm goin' _ghost_." Light began to expand from her abdomen, Alex within the mind gasping quietly as the cold ran throughout her body, sending chills down every nerve, the light circling her abdomen. Eyes shutting as the cold consumed her, she heard Danny's calm voice inside of her mind, '_Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you._' The reassurance from his kind tone was enough to put her at ease and continue with the transformation.

The circular light split in two, one running down her body, the other drawing up her form. Instead of the black jump suit Danny had worn, it seemed to create a negative effect upon her clothing. Her white dress shirt became black, the black T-shirt turning white, while her pants shifted from blue to red. Her sneakers seemed to follow suit as her hat dissolves away in the process. Her hair wisps around her face, seeming to make her almost angelic in a sense as the pigment in her skin dissolves away, making her skin a porcelain tone. Her hair fades, bleaching out to a stark white, the highlights glowing in an eerie luminescent blue. Snapping her eyes open, the electric green flooded her irises as that confident smile crossed her features. Knowledge flooded her brain as she adopted a stance, reeling a fist back to her hip. The ghost, stunned while the transformation went on, instantly regained composure, growling. Her form expanded as the anger grew, eyes narrowing dangerously as she growled out, "Halfa..."

* * *

Dan sighed, sitting in the chair. His arms felt like giving out, he'd been carrying her bags and they hadn't gotten to do any studying at all. He had brought his books and things for nothing, and she hardly talked to him only to tell him to carry something. He wondered if she was even concerned at all about what she was doing to him. Felt even worse than when he just looked at her, being ignored like this was terrible. Currently, she was trying on another dress, and left him to rest his weary legs in a chair. He made an inventory of the bags, counting ten in all, each filled with various designer apparel. How could a girl **_wear_** these many outfits? He sighed again, beginning to regret he agreed to this. Lightly fingering his backpack with his index finger, he stared blankly into the space before him. Alex had been pretty cross with him and Danny looked lost when she dragged him off to do this whole ghost hunting bit. It wasn't that he wanted to, but how many times do you get to go out with the school's most popular girl? He couldn't help that his hormones were dictating him. He rubs his nose idly, staring up at the ceiling, letting his muscles relax.

Here he was, with the school's most popular and beautiful girl, he should be happy. He glanced at the closed dressing room door, watching her slowly exit, smiling quietly at him. He felt his heart drop to his feet, along with his jaw. She wore a rather revealing sundress, perfect for those summer occasions. Her slightly tanned skin seemed to glow, her slender legs and arms accenting the dress quite nicely as she brought her hands to her hair, pushing the long locks up. "How does it look?" He blinked, picking his jaw up from the floor, before finding his voice, "Uh... g-great..." she giggled, quietly stealing into the dressing room, leaving him stunned. Yeah she did look good in that outfit. Or any of the hundreds of other outfits she tried. Though a soft, incessant sigh escaped his lips as he sank in his seat. A little voice in the back of his head kept nagging at him, well not nagging, more like yelling at him. She was ignoring him for her outfits, he barely got several sentences out since they came and humans, being the social creatures they are, demanded conversation. Though he'd never say that to her face. He sighs again, intertwining his fingertips together and laying them over his chest. He honestly felt bad about not going, he was more than a little worried about what would be going on, especially with Alex involved. '..._especially with her involved?_' he thought, then stopped thinking. Thoughts like that didn't belong there, he told himself, before lightly tapping his fingertip on the arm of the seat, looking at the time.

He felt like he was waiting for the bell to go off all over again, time seeming to go by so incessantly slow he felt like he was dying under a microscope, every little detail of the world around him being absorbed. Hell he felt like everything around him was in slow motion. His fingertip began tapping a little faster as he became impatient, his eyes half open as he glanced off to the side. His eyes scanning the entrance to the mall with a bit of scrutiny. His eyes finally settled on a large screen display inside of a video store. Apparently they were playing some animated movie of some sort, it looked to be a samurai drama. The male was leaned against the wall, his red hair hanging over deep golden eyes, tied back in a ponytail and a single scar along his left cheek. The main character his mind supplied. Behind him stood a young woman, about his height, her eyes holding fright as she grasped onto a scarf. The couple were surrounded, the hand of the male moving to the weapon, Dan's eyes focusing more on the TV as he watched the man charge into the alleyway beginning to attack their would be capturers. The scene focuses back upon the woman, her eyes never tearing from the display as their shadows danced over her and on the wall, the men being cut down quickly, remorselessly. His attention drawn further, the red haired man grabs onto her hand and begins to lead her away, possibly to safety.

They arrive at a home, apparently the enemy had already cleaned it out of possible friends, he couldn't tell. The red haired swordsman leans against the wall, obscuring him from the vision of the assailants, and began reaching for his sword, before showing a surprised expression. His eyes slowly move away from them and draw upon her. Her eyes, soft and sorrowful hold onto the weapon and his hand, shaking her head quietly. She seems to whisper something, and from Dan's distance, he couldn't tell, and his eyes soften upon gazing upon the woman. Quietly, they turn away, slowly stealing away into the night, leaving behind the scene of battle or a would be battle. Dan continued staring, replaying the scene in his head a few times, before shaking out of his state by a soft tap against his shoulder. Finally able to rip his eyes away from the display, he found two very disapproving eyes upon him. He blinks, smiling sheepishly, "Er sorry, you were saying something?" She huffed, folding her arms over her chest, "I said let's get going." He nods a bit, dumbly in fact, and quietly gathers the bags, playing the scene back in his head. Taking a deep breath, he wondered quietly how Alex and Danny were doing at the moment...

* * *

A blast of energy in the shape of an ectoplasmic book zips by Anny's head, her eyes narrowed as she growls a little bit. "That almost hit my _face_!" Unlike Danny, who risked his body, she didn't want to have scars or bruises to show for her fighting. At some level she was really self conscious and proud of her body. She, like all women, liked taking care of their bodies. Danny was helping her as best as he could, but despite their bonding it was hard for her to keep up with all of the reflexes he had. Bringing her fist back, several after images followed before throwing the punch forward, the after shadows following her line. The force from the punch was launched, sending her skidding back as the librarian took the force of the blow, with little effect. She was faster, _much_ faster than Dan, but she didn't have the type of power he did, which made it that much harder for Danny to properly guage her power for proper retailiation. The Librarian's right arm transforms into a ghostly tentacle, swinging it back and throwing it forward towards Anny, who brings her arms up, channeling spiritual forces and constructing a lime colored shield. The force sends her skidding across the room, her body moving quickly as she pushes off into the air, flipping and landing onto the table. She pants heavily, her eyes half open as her mindscape tries to hold the two of them together. '_Alex, you're running low on spiritual force..._', Danny spoke inside of her mind, voice etched with worry. She growls, her bangs lightly trailing over her slightly fading green gaze, "I'll be fine, we need to send her back to the Ghost Zone, right?" He only nodded inside of her mind as she renewed her assault.

Drawing her hand out, she pulled back, drawing her fist to her hip as the energy began manifesting, her knee bending before throwing herself up into the air with a jump. Pooling it from her spiritual force, the green light began to wisp around her fingertips as concentration etched its way across her features, her green eyes focusing. Poking her index finger out, she growls, pushing what she had left into this one shot, forcing it forward and pushing her finger towards the librarian, "**_Mashin Gaaaan!_**" The energy begins lashing out from her fingertips, a rapid fire of ectoplasmic bullets raining down upon the librarian, effectively pelting her and just about everything around her, the sound of gun fire echoing out from her fingertip. The force of the blast was enough to keep her airborne a little longer as she began falling backwards, nearly stumbling on her landing. She coughed, down on one knee, the electric green fading from her eyes a bit. She tried hard to focus, her vision getting blurry as she grinds out, "Did I get em...?"

Cutting through the smoke, laughter erupted as a tendril swings out through the smoke, heading towards her at alarming speed. Dazed she begins to try to manuver but feels the exhaustion taking over. Concentrating vainly, she feels Danny pulling out of her body, her voice now a mere hoarse whisper calling for him, "D..Danny...?!" Bringing his arms up, he concentrates, making himself quite solid as he deflects the attack aimed for her, keeping her relatively unharmed. He skids backwards from his position, nudging her away quietly as he grits his teeth, "Hurry, get back... I can't hold it mu-" with that, the tendril breaks through his shielding, crashing against his body and sending him high over her head. Finding her savior, her eyes and body returned to normal, she screams in horror as he is sent careening into, then through the ceiling of the library. Turning her head, she could clearly see the aparition now, her arms drawing up to her chest as she stared. The laughter from the librarian sent chills of terror down her spine as she began backing away. "N..no..." The librarian's eyes flushed into anger, growling out, "No yelling in the library!" swinging the tendril back, she made a swing for Alex. Shutting her eyes tightly, she screamed, her voice carrying up into the rotting library and through the hole in the ceiling, "**_DANNY!_**"

She cringed, bracing herself and awaiting the impact that never came. Still terrified, she slowly slides one eye open to find a familiar back in front of her. His loose fitting T-shirt slightly shifted to one shoulder as black hair and his figure filled her vision, making him seem taller. His right arm was up in a blocking position, the tendril wrapped around his forearm, his fingers tightly grasping it. He had his left hand in his pocket, the gesture making him seem nonchalant, as if he were just passing by. Her violet eyes focused upon him, watching his back, a small, green aura fluxuating around him. "...D... Dan..." she whispered, Danny making a small glance over his shoulder, offering her a half smile, "I found him on the way back." Elation and relief flooded through her as the blue burned into a menecing green, his hair wavering growling out, "I'm goin' _ghost_." The light once again expanding from his abdomen, the cold covered him once more in his costume, and electric green eyes focusing upon the librarian ghost as his white gloved hand began to crush the tendril; before swinging the ghost about, throwing her into the air. Pulling his hand back, he held his fist by his hip, channelling the combined spiritual force into his fist, drawing it together with focus, and taking aim. His eyes seeming to glow, sending vapor from them, he growls lightly, "This is for picking on her..." His index finger poking out of the fist, he points upward, his free hand wrapping around his wrist. Bringing his thumb out, he grins, "**_MASHIN GAN!_**"

Luminescent green bullets fire from his fingertip, sending him skidding slightly against the ground as he began to pelt away at the falling spirit of the librarian. The bullets impact repeatedly, keeping her airborne for a few moments, a gun shot effect accompanying each bullet fired. When he had concluded firing, he swings his hands down, his fingertips snapping slightly as he flicks his wrist downward. Snowy white hair settles into place as the heat in his eyes dies down a bit, his breathing becoming more normal. Alex watches his back quietly, her arms bent and her fists resting lightly against her chest. Casting a momentary glance at the spectre whom now hit the floor, it looked as if she'd been pummelled repeatedly into submission, the ghost wearing a black eye and bruises all over the body. Bringing his hand to his waist, he seemed to be carrying something as he pries open the lid for what looked to be a high tech... thermos. Pointing it down at the ghoul, light begins to fire out from the thermos, pulling and drawing the ghost into its depths, before being consumed completely by the light. Quietly, he sets the cap on top of the thermos, closing it as he looks it over. "Huh... not bad, Tuck should be proud it worked on the first try..." She blinked as Danny turns towards her, his eyes fading to a soft blue, before becoming a deep brown, the spirit quietly popping out of Dan's chest and assuming his usual form.

Smiling softly, Alex moves towards him, sliding lithe arms quietly over his shoulders, wrapping her arms around Dan's neck and hugs him tightly. He blinks, flushing slightly as he peers down at her, feeling her squeeze a little tighter. Danny snickers a bit before Alex pulls away, pointing at him accusingly, "What took you so long?!" Her face was red as well, and anger seemed to be the most comfortible emotion right now. Blinking stupidly, Dan slides his hand behind his head, scratching lightly, "S-sorry." He slides the thermos into his pocket, beginning to explain himself, "I was worried about you so I dropped by your place seeing if you got home already. Your father gave me the thermos but said he didn't know where you were. So, I wandered around aimlessly and found my way here. Danny flew out the roof at that time and I caught him, we merged, and ..." She blushed quietly, anger subsiding a little. She paused, before asking, venturing, "You... were worried about me...?" He blinks a bit, scratching his cheek lightly, "Uh... yeah." She wrinkled her nose, remembering the reason why he hadn't been there in the first place, "What about **_Gwen_**?" Obviously, when she spoke the name she practically spat it out, causing Dan and Danny to wince. He laughs nervously, fingering the thermos sticking out of his pocket, "Well, I got someone to stand in for me. Turns out she needed a pack mule instead of a tutor so I found someone from the football team to do it." She looked skeptical as she scrutinized him, his hands moving up as he waves them in front of himself placently, "It's the truth, honest."

Pausing as if processing it into her brain, she nods, accepting it for an answer before smiling a little. "At least you apologized." then began heading for the door, leaving Dan stumped. He looks after her, eyes focusing a bit more, for some strange reason, she was glowing, radiantly at that. He began wondering about that, before Danny shook him out of his thoughts. "C'mon," the spectre said, "We better catch up before she leaves us here." Nodding quietly, Dan begins his jog to catch up, Danny in tow. Ahead, Alex smiles quietly, her eyes shut as she recalls the battle. A warm shiver of happiness washes over her as she realizes, for the first time, this is something she's really, honestly shared with her best friend.

To Be Continued...


End file.
